


From Me to You

by cloudy_skies



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Family, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, M/M, Office Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-17
Updated: 2014-01-28
Packaged: 2017-11-25 20:20:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 56,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/642599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudy_skies/pseuds/cloudy_skies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just as Roxas entered the apartment and closed the door behind him, Lea's pounding feet against the floor brought his eyes up and he stared at the little redhead with a wide smile—it was good to finally be back home. "Daddy, you're back!" Lea exclaimed as he quickly ran towards the blond with small open arms. Kneeling down, Roxas captured the lad. Hugging him close, he chuckled softly, pressing his nose into the child's bright red tresses.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story they belong respectfully to Square Enix.
> 
> Warning: Themes of shounen-ai/yaoi/homosexual relationships and whatever, you know all that good stuff, AU and also some mild OOC-ness… mentions of drug abuse, pregnancy and abandonment. There will be various time skips as well. If any of this bothers you then you have the option of not reading.
> 
> Music: "You'll be in My Heart" by Phil Collins
> 
> A/N: I had a few thoughts after watching Law and Order: SVU and then there was one of my favorite movies, Disney's Tarzan :') I also kept thinking about this anime I had to stop watching due to school exams called Usagi Drop which I'm planning to pick up again if time will allow me to but basically what I'm trying to say is that I had very many influences while coming up with this story and I just wanted to share how I happened upon making all of this up—and once again I am rambling on so you can totally ignore this now if you want ^^;
> 
> 5/21/13 – I've gone back and edited some grammatical mistakes to the best of my abilities and revised a few things for the sake of comprehension and necessity on my part.

  
-x-x-x-x-  


It was still the dead of winter in the sleepy metropolis of Radiant Garden. Just two months ago, Christmas had been hanging in the air but now the bright lights, trees, eggnog and Santa Clause had all but dried up and disappeared. In place of all the previous holiday cheer, there were pink and red hearts, roses of all kinds littering the entire city and its populace like a whirlwind of confetti during a parade, all of which were screaming about the upcoming commercial holiday called, Valentine's Day.

Sadly though, there was no such love or care that could be spared to someone very small, someone tiny and helpless with no way to stop the cruelty being committed upon them. One of the New Year's most anticipated, love filled holiday was but a tearful period in the tiny life for one such person—a tiny life, that had only just been born several hours ago.

"Absolute filth…" A woman hissed under her breath as her feet moved quickly towards Radiant Garden's central park under the cover of night.

In her arms, she carried a small bundle wrapped tightly in a thick blanket, the material being the perfect instrument used to muffle the soft cries of her newborn son. She held the infant flimsily, uncaring if the new life inside would even be able to survive long enough to live through her attempt of finding a solution to dispose of him. All she knew was that her child was a hindrance, an unwanted thorn at her side that she needed to rid herself of as quickly as possible, no matter what method she had to resort to.

"Argh, I can't believe this…" She clicked her tongue, her voice filled with annoyance. "Would you just shut up you horrible brat! Shut up and be quiet!"

With heels clicking hard against the gravel floor, the woman felt confident in her mission since there was not a soul in sight. Despite her hasty yet dignified stride, there was still a thick cloud of uneasiness hanging in the air especially since there was still a chance that she could be caught in the act. But in her time of arrogance, that thought was easily pushed into the back of her mind, and the further she ventured into the darkness of the park, the more she felt assured that there would be no one around to neither question nor stop her from committing her taboo.

The young woman never wanted the child in the first place yet her lover at the time was adamant about her going through with the pregnancy in the hopes that they could become a proper family. Unfortunately, their 'relationship' fell apart at the seams by the time she hit her eighth month. Nine months of stressful pregnancy and having to deal with a hopeless druggie of a boyfriend were just too much for her to handle and with them no longer together, she didn't see a point in keeping the fruits of their failed relationship. Maybe giving up the kid for adoption would have been a better idea than what she was doing now but who in their right mind would even want such a child like hers in the first place? With all the drugs she had been on throughout the year, the kid would probably need some mental or health related assistance, something she couldn't afford so why bother trying to put a couple through the same predicament? That was her resolution.

Stopping in the middle of an intersection along the jagged path, she turned to her left and eyed the trash bin with narrowed cyan blue colored eyes. It could work she thought. Frowning, she then looked down briefly at the child, its cries growing slightly louder the longer it stayed hidden under the blanket. Sighing, she glanced left then right again just to make sure she was really, truly alone—it was now or never.

  
-x-x-x-x-  


Roxas yawned loudly, his arms stretched out over his head to help give his spine a few much needed cracks after having sat hunched over his desk for more than three hours. The time was nine-thirty PM and just fifteen minutes ago he had been let out of his good old night class. Being a junior at Radiant Garden University was no easy task, especially with senior graduation just around the corner now that he was in his second term of his third year. Soon, very soon he would earn his long awaited bachelor's degree in literature and be a writer just like he had always wanted. It didn't necessarily guarantee that he'd be successful but at the very least, he'd be doing something that made him happy.

Passing through the gates of the park towards his apartment, Roxas' pace slowly began to quicken. The thought of only a year and a half left until he could finally graduate from the torture of university was all but exciting to him. There would be no more stress from exams or homework, no more boring lectures or professors to talk his ear out with their noses held high up in the air. He'd be home free in due time and just barely, he thought he could taste his dream now that he was inching closer and closer to it than ever before.

Suddenly feeling the urge to run, Roxas bolted across the granite path with a grin, his feet pounding heavily against the ground with each step he threw forward. His messenger bag tapped roughly against his hip as his feet moved at a sprint, with the cool wind in his face and blowing through his golden tresses. It was the closest thing to freedom that he could get and he was going to enjoy every damn second of it.

"Just you wait, Radiant Garden U! Soon, I'll prove to you how great I can be!" Roxas yelled into the night at the top of his lungs, voice raspy yet dripping with confidence as he gave out a laugh.

Just as Roxas was coming to a slow jog, the stifled sound of a crying infant perked his interest and he slowly came to an abrupt stop. The soft shriek sounded weak and had moments of fluctuation despite the faintness in its voice. It was as if the person had been screaming for half an hour, maybe even longer but Roxas couldn't tell for sure. One thing was certain though, and that was how severely the crying tore painfully at his heartstrings and there was no way that he could find it in himself to unconsciously walk away from it like the typical Radiant Garden bastards. Turning his body round and round, Roxas slowly closed his eyes and began listening carefully for the muted cries.

'Maybe the parent is having a hard time controlling the baby? But still, who in their right mind would even be out this late at night with their kid?' he thought to himself.

Roxas knew he shouldn't bother looking into the cause of his curiosity. The situation wasn't any of his business after all but the thought of the child—the way it was crying seemed as though the baby were calling out to him, begging him to stay and not leave it alone. Like a sailor, Roxas was drawn to the infant siren and before he knew what he was doing, his feet shuffled only to carefully move forward in pursuit of the crying baby.

The ache he felt in his chest was possessing as the blonde began his search for the tearful call. He feared for the worst the louder the sound grew and he knew then that he was getting closer to the source. Approaching the intersection of the park, he stood in the very middle between the four pathways.

The shrieks were here, but the baby was nowhere in sight to his dismay. No parent, no stroller and definitely no baby and yet the cries were coming from this particular spot.

If the baby wasn't here out in the open, then that left the only place he could think of to look—the trash bin. Turning to look at the large cylinder shaped tube filled with garbage, his blue eyes flickered and he concentrated hard at listening for the child. Just barely he could hear the echo of the infant's cry coming from inside the bin's interior and instantly he felt the color drain from his face. It was a horrifying realization, to think that someone would do this and in his head, his mind was screaming to call the authorities. Yet, Roxas couldn't bring himself to do it, not yet, not until his curiosity was quenched.

Who could have done this he asked himself over and over again. 'Who could have been so heartless as to abandon such an innocent life like this?'

Gulping down his nervousness, Roxas finally had enough standing around. Walking right up to the bin, he lifted the cover, unsure if he was really prepared to face the inevitable situation that he was in.

Dropping the lid beside his feet, his hands grasped the rims of the trash bin and he peeked inside to discover a tightly wrapped bundle that was struggling fiercely to get loose from its binding's. Lifting the thick flap of the blanket, Roxas finally met the infant, his lips falling short in a soft gasp of absolute shock.

Indeed, just as he had feared there was a baby, disposed of in the cold inside of a degrading bin of waste. Like the garbage it laid on top of, whoever decided to leave the child felt no love whatsoever and had every intention of abandoning the poor infant in the dead of February's wintery season to freeze.

Upon noticing that there was someone finally there, the infant's cries began to quiet until it became a soft sniffle. Under the dim street light, Roxas was met with the purest shade of green eyes he had ever seen in his life. Despite the tears that were still slipping from the edges of those small eyes, he was instantly enthralled by the child. Without another moment's hesitation, Roxas reached inside, blue eyes sparkling as the baby's tiny hands reached out for him.

Taking the infant carefully into his arms, Roxas looked down into the pale tear stained face.

'What a cute kid.' He thought to himself before whispering softly. "Hi there little guy."

Pressing the fragile bundle close to his chest, Roxas held the infant firmly, releasing soft coos of comfort to ease the thick anxiety that hung in the air. The child stopped crying almost immediately after Roxas picked him up, but now it seemed as though he was the one shedding tears instead of the baby in his arms. His chest was hurting, his heart throbbing painfully—all for the sake of the unknown newborn but Roxas didn't care.

"How could someone do this to you?" Roxas whispered sadly, his breath released harshly into the air as it accumulated into a soft cloud that quickly dissipated like a puff of smoke.

Looking into the child's eyes once more, he didn't notice how heavy his tears were as they rolled off of his warm cheeks, only to fall on the infant's face like droplets of rain water. The green eyed babe could only stare back at his crying face in wonder with his tiny hands fisted into tight balls. It couldn't understand the nature of the situation but seeing Roxas suddenly cry was all it took for him to begin whimpering and shedding more tears of its own again.

"Shh… Don't cry, please don't cry…" Roxas cooed through his shaky voice but it was all in vain. "You aren't alone now, I'm here, and I won't go anywhere little guy."

Cradling the small body, he slowly began to rock the infant in his arms, his voice turning into a soft hum that quickly lullabied the baby into a light sleep.

Once he saw the infant close its eyes, Roxas felt mildly satisfied but the throbbing sensation in his chest was still there and ached terribly. Looking around, he knew they couldn't stay out here all night and he was not about to abandon the poor thing like the twisted individual before him. Biting his lip, Roxas turned towards the direction of the twenty-four hour super market not too far from the apartment he shared with his older brother. He was going to need baby formula and some diaper's.

Smiling softly down at the calm infant, he held it carefully with one arm only to reach down with his other hand and graze his fingers across thin, baby soft red hair. For some reason, it felt natural for him to comfort this one baby. Already, he was growing attached and in his heart, he had a feeling that maybe, just maybe this was fate and that maybe this was meant to be. If whoever had done this didn't have the love necessary to raise the child, then he would do it. He would be the one to give this little baby all the love and care it needed.

"I won't leave you, I promise," He said as he leaned forward to press his lips against the child's temple.

  
-x-x-x-x-  


Four Years Later…

"Ahh! S-sir!" Roxas screeched in horror, his voice trembling as his boss held him down against the desk. It was highly unprofessional and it made the blonde's skin crawl each and every time he was subjected to the older man's advances.

"Aw, but Roxy, I'm bored, entertain me." The redhead grinned above him, his lips turned up into a rather mischievous smirk, the kind of smirk that Roxas really hated about him.

"We're in the office! It's ten in the morning and this is no place for 'that' kind of activity! Now get off me you pig, before I really get angry!" the blond glared but his boss continued to smile down at him, unaffected by his assistant's bout of fury.

"Where's your sense of adventure, Roxy?" Axel whispered against the blonde's neck, pressing his hips a little harder into the other's lower body to pin him securely down into the desk.

'This is all to support Lea, this is all to support Lea!' Roxas chanted repeatedly in his head.

Unfortunately, the position he found himself in was a serious matter and no amount of optimism could distract him once he felt the redhead's long finger's inch towards his groin. A simple brush against the material of his slacks had Roxas gasping for air, his blue eyes wide with fear. Letting out a surprised scream, he jerked forward only to head butt his boss and scrambled out from under him as fast as he possibly could to get away.

Landing on the carpet with a loud yelp, Roxas panted nervously, his hand clutching the front of his dress shirt tightly while Axel held his head and groaned. Falling back into his leather chair, it was in the next second that Demyx came barging in through the doors after having heard Roxas' scream.

"Alright! What happened?" the older blond exclaimed hysterically.

Seeing the pained look on Axel's face and then seeing his cousin on the ground, obviously just having escaped from another one of the redhead's voyeuristic attempts to sexually harass him, Demyx sighed.

Demyx knew Roxas was grateful to him for the job but still, the older blond sometimes felt that his cousin didn't deserve the trouble Axel put him through even if he needed the income. Shaking his head, he figured that it was the Strife family's curse, honestly who could blame Roxas for being so handsome looking and charming? He wasn't just any typical blond haired, blue eyed male, he was a Strife and he had charisma in both his looks and personality. Well, maybe just his looks since his personality was still questionable but Demyx wasn't about to tell him that unless he wanted to get punched in the face.

"I bet your hard on is gone now, right Axel?" Demyx teased as he crossed his arms with a grin.

"Shut up, Dem." Axel replied while rubbing the ache he felt still pulsing on his nose.

Rolling his eyes, Demyx walked the short distance over to his cousin and yanked the smaller blond up onto his feet. Roxas was still shaking much to his dismay, so without another word Demyx escorted him out of the office and towards the break room.

"Man, this has got to be the fifth time this week that I've came running to your rescue."

"Really? Where were you the other ten times?"

"Ten! Wha?—"

Roxas chuckled, amused by the other blonde's speechlessness. "Yeah, ten."

"It's only Thursday and he's already close to hitting on you twenty times this week? Jeez, he must not be getting his daily dose of sexual relief from whatever woman is occupying his life and bed..." Demyx mused.

"Pft, tell me about it… and I have to suffer for it as a result…"

"Look, I know you probably don't want to hear this but have you thought about y'know, transferring? Maybe even finding a new job?" the older blond asked slowly, emphasizing his words carefully for his cousin to pick up the concern in his voice.

Arching a brow, Roxas stopped in his tracks. It was obvious that he hadn't taken those thoughts into consideration before, mostly because he was stubborn that way and would rather go through hell and back than give up half way in the game.

"I knew it." Demyx said with a sigh.

"Please, Dem I don't want to hear it. Yes, I'm not particularly fond of this job but it pays well and I'm able to put a little more away for Lea and help out at home with Cloud. Besides, I write on the side remember? I'm sort of a writer, so I'm not wasting my degree in literature."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, but I can't help but worry about you, Rox. I mean, after a year of suffering under Axel the menace, I'd have thought you would pick up and leave like all the others." Throwing his arm around the shorter blond, he ruffled his hair which earned him a disgruntled growl from his cousin. "You are a real trooper my dear boy!"

"Dem…" he growled, causing Demyx to holler with laughter.

Tugging his cousin by the arm, they entered the break room in silence and settled down for a quick cup of coffee together before returning to work for the next couple of hours. Their conversation consisted mostly of Demyx doting on and on about his partner of five years, Zexion Lorenzo while Roxas shared cellphone pictures that Cloud had taken of him and Lea at Radiant Garden's central park zoo the weekend before.

The older blond loved how devoted of a father Roxas was to the little boy he found four years ago. Unfortunately, the entire Strife family had felt otherwise and had been afraid that Roxas would fail as a parent since he didn't have a mother or father of his own to teach him the ropes of parenthood, both having long since died on a rainy night out driving when he was just a baby. He was still in college at the time as well when he made the brash decision and it was ludicrous that the state gave into Roxas' request the very moment he asked for custody of the infant. The only parental figures in his life he had to fall back on was his older brother Cloud and their distant uncle, Cid Highwind but even so Roxas proved his family wrong and turned out to be a great dad to Lea in his cousin's eyes.

Roxas' college year's after having adopted Lea was probably the hardest period in his young life that Demyx had ever seen him experience. Balancing his job at the local café, school and taking care of a baby was an intense lifestyle but everyone, both close family and friends gave him support and the help he needed to graduate on time, thank goodness.

With the college chapter of his life over and done with, next came the hard part which was finding a real job. Working at the café while freelancing with the local paper could hardly be considered a career which was why when Demyx finally hit a six month period working under White Fire Publishing, he made it his mission to help raise Roxas' income for Lea. And it worked but at a high price, one where Roxas had no choice but to endure the cruelty of the company's vice president, Axel Trenton.

At the time, Roxas had been working under Demyx in his group on his side of the building, which was being an editor for the literature team. It was by mere chance that he and Axel met in the elevator on a Wednesday in March a year ago, and from the get go, the vice president had been smitten by the Strife's beauty. On that very same day, Roxas was moved from his cousin's supervision to the top floor as the redhead's assistant which had many employees stunned with shock and envy since Axel had stated that he would never take another subordinate again after the whole Kairi fiasco months before.

Since then, Demyx's cousin suffered the flames of hell without much complaint; maybe a curse or two just to spite Axel but overall he was forbearing for the most part. The younger blonde's only reason for tolerating such a profuse amount of spitfire from Axel was because moneywise, he was getting paid well enough to support his family and received benefits that would not only cover his wellbeing but also Lea's. This, Demyx really had to give his cousin some points to since he usually was quite the testy individual but if there was a way to give Lea a better life—no matter what sacrifices he had to make, Demyx knew that Roxas would be willing to knuckle down for the kid; just as long as his temper didn't fly through the roof of course.

Soon, the two finished their second cups of coffee and parted way in the hall to return to their designated work environments. By the time lunch rolled around, Roxas left the company building briskly at one PM as usual to pick up his son from preschool. No one knew why he left, except for Demyx himself and the girl at the front desk, Namine but Roxas liked to keep it that way—his personal and work life separate that is.

Denied as usual by his assistant for lunch together, Axel couldn't understand why his assistant was so adamant in keeping his schedule so organized and as free of the redhead as possible. It unnerved him sometimes how very reclusive the blond was since no one had ever been able to stand up against his charm but Roxas proved him wrong. Unfortunately, it made his assistant all the more desirable to him, making his insides churn with excitement whenever the twenty-four year old was around him. He wanted the blond wrapped around his finger, like a ribbon, secure and tight until the day he would have his assistant unraveled and begging for more.

  
-x-x-x-x-  


The day was finally over much to Roxas' relief. Just an hour ago he declined Axel's invitation to the bar, again. Though he had been mildly threatened about being fired if he didn't join the redhead, he managed to defer the offer until the next weekend during their time off. Tomorrow would be his last day of work for the week and he was excited since if meant he would have some quality time to spend with Lea.

At the moment, his bundle of joy was at home with the uncles, Cloud and Leon. Though he would have loved to take Lea to work with him after preschool, his office was no place for a child, especially since his boss had little to no restraint already when it came to his degrading escapades towards Roxas, so why would Axel even think about toning it down with a child in the room?

As he neared the apartment he shared with his older brother and brother in-law, the sound of Lea's laughter caused him to stop for a moment in front of the door and smile. He imagined the child's toothy grin, the unconditional exuberance that constantly twinkled in his bright green eyes. Oh how he loved that boy.

Inserting the key into the keyhole, Roxas twisted the device until it clicked. Sighing nervously, he slowly began to loosen his shoes, swinging the door open until it allowed him enough room to stand in front of the walk way to move right on in.

Just as Roxas entered the apartment and closed the door behind him, Lea's pounding feet against the floor brought his eyes up and he stared at the little redhead with a wide smile—it was good to finally be back home.

"Daddy, you're back!" Lea exclaimed as he quickly ran towards the blond with small open arms.

Kneeling down, Roxas captured the lad. Hugging him close, he chuckled softly, pressing his nose into the child's bright red tresses. Lifting the four year old up, he made sure to lock the door behind him before entering the living room with Lea in tow.

Leon was found lying on the floor, an amused expression on his face as Lea promptly stuck his tongue out at the brunet. Cloud had his back turned to everyone, his attention drawn towards the stove while he stood there in the kitchen preparing dinner for everyone.

"Lea, is that really any way to treat your uncle?" Roxas laughed.

"Yes!"

"And why is that?"

"Because! Before you came in, Uncle Leon was wrestling me and, and he had me pinned down! You should have seen it! He was getting ready to sit on me! I would have been squashed into a pancake!"

"Really now?"

"Yes!" Lea exclaimed. Leaning towards his father's ear, the redhead began to whisper. "Don't you see how big of a butt Uncle Leon has? It's huge, he can turn anyone into a pancake just by sitting on them."

In that instant, Roxas bit his lower lip, hoping to stifle the laughter that was threatening to escape from his mouth. Turning away, Lea giggled while Leon just stared up at the pair with narrowed stormy blue eyes.

"You know, I heard that Lea."

"Heard what?" Cloud asked over his shoulder, his spatula moving quickly around the stir fry he was cooking.

"Lea said that if I sat on him, I'd squish him to the point of being a pancake because I apparently have a 'huge' butt."

This caused Cloud to snort. "I think he has a point, y'know—I mean you wear an awful lot of leather pants and it makes your buttocks rather big and plump so I wouldn't be surprised if one day you do manage to flatten someone into a pancake." Hearing his brother's comment, Roxas was all but helpless as he released a string of giggles.

"Are you serious?" Leon stood up; dusting his pants he walked off into the kitchen to stand beside his husband. Frowning, he crossed his arms but Cloud made no reaction to the brunet's displeasure.

"Yes, I'm being serious." Cloud replied.

"That's just cold."

"So, what? Are you going to cry now?" Eying his brother and Lea in the living room, Cloud smirked lightly as he let his free hand wander over towards Leon's side. Placing his hand right against the brunet's butt, he gave it a firm squeeze that caused Leon to shudder in place. "Yup, its plump alright—but at least I can still feel some firmness from when we were in college."

"Cloud…" Leon growled but all it did was make Cloud's smirk widen even more.

"Oh my god, really? Guys, get a room!" Roxas glared and that quickly set the duo straight as Leon rushed back out into the living room and Cloud rolled his eyes at having the moment ruined.

The rest of the night continued on with more jokes and poking fun at Leon. Dinner was spent happily together, with Lea telling another one of his tall tales about his playground adventures with his friend, Isa Ferguson. Afterwards when Roxas began doing the dishes, it was Leon's turn to give Lea his nightly bath. The two of them partook in a short splash war which Cloud quickly ended much to their disappointment but once they saw the large puddle they had made on the bathroom floor, they apologized quickly.

Despite Roxas' exhaustion, he was determined to be the one that tucked Lea into bed and read him his daily dose of bedtime stories every night. Tonight it was the adventures of Aladdin, one of the redhead's favorite tales. Though he had been excited at the beginning, Lea was slowly but surely falling into a deep slumber. By the time Roxas arrived at the very last page, the boy was found fast asleep in dreamland on cloud nine.

With the room quiet and filled with tranquility, it relaxed Roxas' previous nerves that had been caused by his overbearing boss. Kissing his son's temple, he lifted himself up off the bed to retrieve a towel that hung from his desk chair in order to take a much needed shower to reduce the stiffness in his worn out muscles.

A five minute soap and rinse later, Roxas was clean and ready for bed himself. Like every night before, he climbed into the king sized bed he shared with Lea. In the past, they use to have a standard bed but because the redhead made a habit of moving around in his sleep, sometimes even kicking Roxas in the gut, the switch to a king size was a smart investment on Roxas' part. Although he didn't really mind the nightly attacks before, the extra space they now had allowed Roxas to have enough room to scoot away from Lea if it need be whenever the four year old got a little interesting in his sleep.

Lying down on the mattress next to his four year old son, Roxas smiled softly at the peaceful expression adorned on the young child's face. He slowly ran his fingers through the short red hair that seemed to like to stick up everywhere whenever Lea laid his head down on the pillow. Even in the morning, the kid's bed head was one of the most adorable quirks that Roxas had ever seen in his life, along with that sleepy smile of his after waking up.

It was then, that Roxas suddenly began to wonder just how much longer he had left in the next year or two to enjoy moments like these before they disappeared for good. After all, Lea was growing up and even though he was experiencing such a wonderful time as a parent to the little four year old, Roxas couldn't help but feel sad all of a sudden now that the realization was hitting him.

Shaking his head, Roxas groaned softly out of a need to release some of the built up tension he was feeling emotionally. If he was given the choice to control whether or not Lea could grow up or not, he'd let the boy's life run its course because that was what he wanted—to raise Lea and give him all the love and care he could. It was inevitable after all, and it wasn't much of a surprise for him to feel so apprehensive about his child getting older either because didn't all parents experience this feeling of sadness? Maybe for him it was too early but Roxas was a special case, even he was aware of that and he loved and doted on little redhead like no other. Giving Lea one last glance, he leaned in close to give the redhead a final kiss goodnight against his forehead before turning on his side and letting his mind drift off into space.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story they belong respectfully to Square Enix.
> 
> Music: "Love is Message" by W-ind

  
-x-x-x-x-  


"Lea, honey you don't look so good." Roxas said, pressing his hand against his son's forehead.

The little redhead's skin felt warm to the touch. It was something to worry about since Lea didn't get sick very often and it came as a surprise to Roxas since he had looked relatively fine the night before bed. Then again, it made sense since his bundle of joy had been slow getting ready and being in preschool for a few hours every weekday in a small room with so many other children—the spread of sickness was bound to occur at any time if one wasn't careful.

"Maybe you shouldn't go to preschool today Lea."

"But daddy, no one is home." Lea replied, his hand reaching up to rub his eyes.

"I know, which is why I'm going to call uncle Sora and uncle Riku, okay?"

Producing his cellphone from the pocket of his gray slacks, Roxas dialed his best friend's number quickly. After four rings, his usually bubbly brunet haired friend and live in boyfriend groggily picked up the line. It was clear that Sora wasn't awake, leaving Roxas to explain the situation to the other's boyfriend. To the blonde's greatest relief, Riku and Sora agreed to play babysitter for Lea.

With that agreement established it didn't take long for Roxas to carry his exhausted little boy out of the apartment to begin the rest of the day with a new agenda. He understood that there was a possibility that he would be late for work, but his son's wellbeing was always his first priority, just as long as he had control of the situation in some way or another.

Not too long after the phone call, Roxas dialed for a taxi and the two of them arrived at the home of Sora Lior and Riku Steely after a short cab ride from their apartment complex. The brunet was the first to approach the father and son, his face bright and smile brimming with excitement despite how early in the morning it was. Riku was another story but he seemed just as content with having Lea over.

Bidding the three of them a goodbye for the time being, Roxas reluctantly vacated the area to return to his office in the downtown area. No preschool for Lea meant that there was no chance of him leaving the building for lunch which in other words meant he'd have no choice but to spend it alone without his beautiful sunshine of a child to keep him company.

Sighing at the thought, Roxas grudgingly went on to work and the first thing he was greeted by the moment he stepped through the doors of Axel Trenton's office was a pair of glaring green eyes.

"You're late."

"Yeah, I know." Roxas grumbled. Closing the door behind him, he made his way over to his desk and threw his suitcase down on the spotless surface. The extra strength used to heave the bag was most definitely unnecessary, making the sound on impact twice as deafening. It caused his boss to jump surprisingly in place and Roxas just rolled his eyes at him. "Do you have a problem with me being late today of all days, sir?"

The attitude in Roxas' tone made Axel click his tongue in annoyance. "Yes actually, as a matter of a fact I do, Roxas. So, before we bite each other's heads off, you have some work to do."

"What kind of work?" Roxas yawned.

"Manuscripts—I need you to pick up a manuscript from Dr. Ansem Wise at his estate on Crystal Fissure Hill." Axel explained as he grabbed a sheet of paper with the address written on it and handed it off to his assistant.

"What? Um, isn't this a job for one of the editors? I'm your assistant."

"Yes I'm giving you an editor's job but like you said, you're my assistant and as my assistant it's your job to do whatever I tell you." The redhead crossed his arms, his posture held tall and regal with authority. It made Roxas' blood seethe.

"Why didn't you tell me this yesterday?"

Seeing the glare in the blond assistant's eyes, Axel almost didn't want to tell him that it was because it slipped his mind and in order to save his skin from being ripped to shreds—he did the usual and told him a little white lie.

"It was a last minute decision okay? Things happen, so don't get your panties in a twist sunshine."

"Fine whatever!" Roxas growled. Snatching the paper that was still clutched in his boss's hand, the blond gathered his suitcase again.

Before taking his chance to escape the room though, Axel grabbed his assistant by the wrist and pulled him back. Surprised, Roxas turned—blue eyes narrowed and ready to yell but when he met his superior's hard green eyes and placid face, he stopped abruptly and shut his mouth quickly. It wasn't often that Roxas laid witnessed to Axel's seriousness but when it did happen he knew better than to try and lash out.

"Look, Dr. Wise specifically asked me to send someone that I trusted to pick up his manuscript. I'm sure you're well aware of how famous he is and the research he produces so it's important not only to him but to the company as well. I trust you Roxas, I really do which is why I was a little upset that you of all people arrived late. Ansem is expecting you at eleven AM sharp so you've got about twenty or so minutes to get your ass over there."

"Sir…" Roxas stared at him, the serious expression on his boss's face unwavering.

It wasn't every day that he saw this side of Axel and to be honest he found it difficult to accept that he actually thought it was a rather attractive quality to his superior.

"Can I count on you, Roxas?" Axel asked, his stare intensifying the longer they stood looking at each other.

Just as he was about to answer, the sound of the blonde's cellphone broke the tense trance they shared. Shocked, Roxas fumbled clumsily for the phone in his pocket. Axel turned away and rubbed his temple, tongue clicking again with a resentful hiss as he added another moment to his list of annoyances for the day.

Swiping a thumb across the touch screen, Roxas paused once he glanced down at the caller ID. "Sora? What is it?"

"Roxas! Lea threw up!" The brunet yelled into the phone.

In the background, Roxas could hear his son coughing raggedly. The unpleasant sound was enough to make him wince and he bit his lower lip in response. Riku's soothing voice was there too and he could picture the silverette rubbing circles on the boy's back while trying to figure out how to clean up the mess. But with Sora pacing frantically around, that image was quickly broken and Roxas could only imagine the worst possible scenario in his head.

"I-is he alright?"

"W-well…" Sora hesitated.

"Sora! Is Lea okay?"

The cringing in his best friend's voice unnerved him but not as much as the coughing coming from his son on the other line.

"Sora answer me!" Roxas exclaimed.

"D-daddy?..."

"Lea! Are you okay honey?"

"Daddy I don't feel so good…" Lea began to cry.

"Oh Lea, okay, okay I'll be there as soon as I can, I promise." Roxas replied quickly.

"Okay daddy…"

Swallowing nervously, Roxas regrettably hung up and proceeded to chew on his bottom lip. It didn't help that Sora's outburst left him shaking and hearing Lea's tearful voice made him feel a hundred times worse.

The moment he looked up at his boss, it was no surprise that Roxas developed a film of cold sweat in a matter of seconds.

"I'm guessing that the call is more important than your work?" Axel asked; his eyes narrowed dangerously at his assistant.

"Yes, actually. I'm sorry but I can't pick up the manuscript for you sir." Roxas replied calmly and though he appeared indifferent, Roxas felt quite opposite in fact.

"And why can't you do as I ask you to?" Axel growled.

The threatening tone in the redhead's voice was enough to make any underling cower in fear but Roxas miraculously stood his ground. The clock was ticking and he made a promise that he couldn't afford to break.

"Because, my son needs me more than anything else right now." Roxas stated firmly and with that said he threw open the doors and left his boss in a state of shock.

  
-x-x-x-x-  


"Hey Lea, are you okay buddy?" Roxas held his son close, his hand pressed against the child's forehead.

"Nghh…" The boy whined.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think oatmeal would make him puke… I put some fruit in it so I just thought—"

"It's okay Sora, I should have just stayed home to take care of him…" The blond sighed.

"Well, you're here now obviously so how about we take you guys home where Lea can rest properly? I'm sure Riku wouldn't mind." Sora beamed. "Would you Ku?"

"No, I don't mind at all. Besides I don't want Roxas taking Lea back home in the cold on public transportation. He might get even sicker than he already is." Grabbing his coat off the couch Riku checked the pockets for his car keys.

Cradling Lea, Roxas smiled warmly at his two friends. "Thanks you guys and I'm really sorry if I had caused any trouble."

"Whoa there, you don't have to apologize for anything Rox!" Sora placed his hands on his hips and frowned at the blond. "Today was just a bump in the road, no need to look like someone kicked your puppy."

"Just try to focus on taking care of Lea for now, and when he gets over his flu then you can worry about the rest of the world." Riku added.

"Well, I do have the rest of the weekend free so hopefully Lea will feel better by Monday… Hopefully…"

"Yeah! Exactly!" Sora cheered.

"Alright come on we need to get to the car." Ushering everyone to the door, Riku rubbed his temples. The enthusiasm his brown haired boyfriend emitted was contagious and at some points annoying but Riku loved Sora's optimism more than anything.

Watching his boyfriend and friend from behind, Riku could see how animated Sora became whenever they were in the presence of Roxas and his son. It was no secret to anyone that Sora wanted children of his own and babysitting Lea was probably the closest thing that he could get to taking care of his own child—at least until the silverette could find the guts to pop the question, get married and then adopt their own kids.

Ah, the life of a family man…

  
-x-x-x-x-  


Axel ended up being the errand boy in Roxas' stead. He wasn't happy about it since he was close to ten or so minutes late getting to the good doctor's house but with the morning traffic jam in downtown Radiant Garden, it was to be expected. Ansem was gracious enough to forgive the redhead for his tardiness and after that mishap the rest of the day went on smoothly if not lonely for Axel in his office. Still he couldn't help but allow his thoughts to linger on Roxas' words pertaining to the blonde's so called son. During the entire time that he had the blond working under him, he was never made aware of his underling's personal life and family. That would probably mean that he was married then since he had a kid, right?

Actually, why was his mind suddenly obsessed with his assistant's personal life?

Ripping his eyes away from his computer screen, Axel began shaking his head to try and rid himself of the annoying thoughts.

Roxas was beautiful, that was part of the reason why the redhead had him moved up to his office in the first place. He presented himself as a hard worker when they met on the elevator, seeing as how he had been carrying a stack of books and documents at the time and after hiring him, the guy ended up being the one to finish more than seventy percent of Axel's workload on top of his own. He was beyond responsible and carried a professional air to him at all times unlike Axel himself and the redhead that he was extremely lucky to have such a gem like Roxas at his side. The blond still had his quirks though, a hot temper, a pout that made him look years younger than he really was—but Axel held no romantic feelings for him! If anything, the redhead had been hoping for an office fuck with the guy the moment he hired him but alas Roxas was incredibly resilient to his charm.

By this time, Axel ran his fingers through the spikes of his red hair, pulling occasionally at the roots to relieve some sort of tension but sadly it had no effect in simmering down his foul mood. A knock at the door had him jumping out of his chair though and he quickly cleared his throat in the hopes that it was most likely Roxas.

"C-come in!" Axel's voice cracked distastefully and he frowned at himself.

"Hey Roxy are you ready—" Demyx sung aloud as he opened the doors. Seeing that his dear cousin was nowhere in sight though, he stopped and eyed the vice president with a raised brow. "Sir? Is Roxas here?"

"Oh… it's just you Demyx…" Axel grumbled, belittling himself even more since there would have been no reason for Roxas to return to work for the day, not when he had some kid to take care of. Why he was hoping that it would be his blond haired assistant he didn't know and it made him all the more pissed and angry than he was before.

"Yup, just me! So boss, have you seen my cousin?"

"No."

"Well, would you happen to know where he might be?"

"Probably at home taking care of his kid..." The redhead murmured rather callously. "He left before lunch without much explanation aside from telling me that his son needed him when I need him more here at the office!"

Demyx shuddered, surprised by the redhead's sudden yell. "W-wait? He left work to take care of Lea?"

"Lea?" Axel groaned. "If that's the brat's name than yes! He left work for his kid!"

"Wha? Hey! Don't call Lea a brat!" Demyx snapped.

"To me all children are brats! Jeez, why does the guy need to go home to his kid? Could've hired a babysitter for heaven's sakes instead of dropping his work like that…" Axel muttered more or less to himself but Demyx heard everything word for word and that just about set him off.

"Kids maybe bratty sometimes but Lea is far from a brat! And don't criticize Roxas just because he's trying to be a good dad!"

"Good dad? Good dad? Are you kidding me? He's what? Twenty-four year's old with a kid! Probably knocked his girlfriend up in high school if he's got a kid when he's this young!"

"That isn't true! How dare you talk about my cousin that why when you don't even know him!" Demyx clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging deep into the palms of his hands.

"How dare I? How dare—oh fuck this! For goodness sakes, Roxas isn't here so just get out of my office already!" Axel yelled as he slammed his hands down onto the surface of his desk, the sound resonating menacingly into the open air. He had enough thinking and discussion on the topic of his assistant and by now he was considering the option of firing the guy altogether if a sense of normalcy was becoming more and more out of his reach.

Unfortunately for the vice president, Demyx was already too deeply enraged to be stopped from taking action and before he could comprehend it, Axel was jerked forward by the collar of his shirt. Shocked green eyes stared into angry sea water colored hues—they were nothing like the shade of deep ocean blue that Roxas possessed but Axel still couldn't deny how quick to angry Demyx was, just like Roxas.

"You listen and you listen well because I'm not playing around! Don't you ever insult my cousin Roxas in front of me, especially when it involves his son! Lea is the sweetest and happiest little boy I've ever met and it's all thanks to Roxas, and don't you dare think for a second that Roxas is the kind of guy to accidentally get a girl pregnant!" Demyx screamed. "And just for the record, he adopted Lea after finding the kid abandoned in a trashcan the day he was born! His mother didn't even want him! Nobody wanted him but Roxas did! Roxas wanted to give him a home, wanted to raise him and give him the love that nobody else would spare him! And now that you know this, you better think about those awful words that came out of your mouth and apologize not only to me but also to Roxas!"

Glaring one last time at his superior, Demyx shoved the redhead back down into his chair and stomped out of the room while muttering creative insults, one after another. He left the vice president all but wide eyed and shell shocked and honestly who wouldn't be after being confronted by such an explosive outburst and coming from the most flamboyant and easy going employee in the whole building?

Still, a lot of information had just been revealed to him, information that his assistant had never bothered mentioning before and because of the angry revelation, things were starting to fit in place much like a puzzle the longer Axel sat there at his desk in silence.

  
-x-x-x-x-  


Still mumbling angrily, it didn't take long for Demyx to stop in his tracks and replay his previous actions in his head.

It took about a minute for the blonde's face to pale and he turned back to look at the doors of his boss's office with wide eyes.

"Oh shit, I just physically assaulted and threatened my boss and spilled Roxas' personal life out into the open…" Groaning, Demyx stomped his feet against the ground loudly and circled in place.

"I can't believe this! Not only will I get myself fired but Roxy is going to kill me!"

Grabbing his phone, Demyx did the only thing he could do whenever he got himself into to trouble; he hit the speed dial on his cell. The line rang three times before he heard his boyfriend's voice to which he instantly began to fall apart and cry.

"Zexy! I think I just ruined my career and Roxas' life!"

  
-x-x-x-x-  


The weekend went by surprisingly fast. Lea's flu had still been fairly active over the last three days much to Roxas' sadness and though he was determined to stay at home, his older brother Cloud beat him to the punch and took the Monday off himself in order to take care of the young four year old instead.

Finding himself so close to the office, it finally hit Roxas that he'd have to deal with a possibly angry superior this Monday morning after what he did last Friday. A moody Axel usually meant having a crappy day at work and it didn't sit well the longer Roxas thought about. In his mind he was crying out loud, fearful for what awaited as he trudged his way slowly to the office he shared with the redhead.

"He's probably going to fire me…" Roxas mumbled under his breath, his eyes looking down at his feet the closer he walked down the long hallway.

When he made it to the doors of the office, he swallowed nervously—panic growing inside of him but he knew that if he didn't go inside eventually, the consequences were more than likely to worsen.

Just as his hand wrapped around the doorknob, a large weight came from the side and knocked him down to the floor.

"Ahh!"

"No! Don't!"

"Wha—What? Demyx!"

"Don't go in there!" Demyx grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him roughly.

"Why not? Dem I have to go!"

"But Roxas!" His cousin began to cry suddenly.

"Demyx what's going on? Why are you crying?" Roxas asked, his face twisting between a look of confusion and worry.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry but I accidentally spilled the beans about Lea and now Axel knows about some of your personal life!" Demyx wailed, causing the few employees wandering around to stop and stare at the peculiar scene he was causing.

"Y-you what?..." His cousin's words were slowly processing in his mind but once it sorted through, it was Roxas' turn to shake the other blond by the shoulders. Only this time in a manner that was much angrier and violent.

"Why would you do that?" Roxas yelled.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! He made me mad! He was saying all sorts of horrible things about you and Lea!"

"Horrible things?" Roxas stopped his assault. "What horrible things are you talking about exactly?"

Demyx sniffled. "He called Lea a brat… And he was saying something about you getting a girl pregnant in high school which is stupid and totally untrue! I couldn't help but get angry and then I just exploded on him…"

"Demyx…" Roxas pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'm sorry, I know you wanted to keep your work and personal life separate but I just couldn't let that guy get away with insulting you and Lea like that…"

Roxas glanced up at his cousin. Seeing the dark circles under his eyes, it became clear to him how distressed his cousin was by the new situation he was informed of. Knowing Demyx, he had probably been worried sick about what he did all weekend. Sighing, Roxas smiled sadly and got up onto his feet.

"It's okay, it was bound to happen Dem. I mean, I can't very well keep my career and personal separate for long." He tried to laugh.

Helping the taller blond up, Roxas stepped back and turned his gaze towards the doors that led to the office.

"Well, now that I know Axel's aware of my life, it's probably better that I charge in now than later."

"Roxas, I'm so sorry…" Demyx said again.

"Again, it's alright Dem." Roxas waved. "You better make it up to me somehow though, kay?"

"Don't worry, I will! I'll do anything!"

"Heh, I'll keep you to your word for it." Roxas smirked lightly, causing Demyx to laugh nervously and rub the back of his neck. "It's now or never, I'll tell you what happens afterwards but right now I've got a dragon to slay."

"Good luck, I'll be putting my things away in a box just in case he does decide to fire me…" The taller blond gave his cousin a quick thumbs up before leaving the hallway.

Now alone for the most part, Roxas sighed heavily and proceeded to make his way inside the dragon's keep. Keeping his eyes casted downwards, he opened the door slowly and after entering the room closed it behind him in silence as he pressed his back up against the flat surface. He could hear Axel's fingers typing away at the keyboard and he didn't dare look up at his superior. He was nervous, that much was true but other than that, he was expecting the worse to happen.

Roxas stayed there by the door, his feet practically glued in place as he waited for the yelling to begin but after a minute or two of silence, he began to have second thoughts on whether or not he really was in trouble.

"Why are you just standing there?" The blond heard his superior asked from across the room.

Gulping, Roxas squeezed his eyes shut for a second before opening them and looking up to see the redhead eying him with a puzzled expression.

"What?" Roxas blinked.

"Don't just stand around and waste time Roxas, you have work to do." Axel glanced back at his computer screen, his fingers working vigorously across the keyboard again.

"Right, okay…"

Moving awkwardly to his desk, Roxas pulled out his chair, preparing to sit down until he saw a rather unusual gift waiting for him on the seat. He paused, his head tilting slightly as he eyed the object with wonder. Reaching down to grab it, he held the item at an arm's length away from his body and began to study its face and structure.

Axel had been waiting anxiously all morning for Roxas to arrive and find the gift he left for him. Why he purchased it was absolutely compulsive on his part but the thing was too cute to pass up and it reminded him of how adorable his assistant tended to be. Once he noticed the blonde's reaction to it though, he was slightly taken aback by how wary Roxas was being.

"It's just a teddy bear, why are you looking at it like it's some kind of alien?" Axel tapped his fingers against his desk.

Bringing the bear closer to his body, Roxas looked at his superior in a way that left the redhead mentally stuttering.

"Well, it kind of is a strange occurrence don't you think? I mean, you've never left a gift for me before and I'm assuming that this is your way of trying to apologize, am I right?"

The redhead's gaze fell. "I'm sure Demyx told you about what happened last Friday, right?"

"A little bit…" Roxas' hands tightened on the bear, unsure of how to approach where their conversation was headed to.

"I was completely out of line that day. I didn't mean to say what I said, and I—I shouldn't have assumed you to be an irresponsible person with a bratty kid… So, I'm sorry…"

Roxas frowned. "It's okay… I think?"

Sitting down in his chair, Roxas laid his head back and stared up at the ceiling.

"That's it? No yelling?" Axel sat there looking at him almost disbelievingly.

"No."

"No smart remarks?"

"No."

"No throwing office supplies at me?"

"No."

"Well that was easier than I thought…" Axel mumbled.

"You apologized, that's enough for me." Roxas closed his blue eyes and chuckled. "For now at least."

"What do you mean by that?" Axel asked, his brow furrowing slightly.

"You had the nerve to disrespect not only me, but my four year old son. If it was just me, I wouldn't care but Lea is a special case that I won't easily forgive."

The light threat in his assistant's tone made Axel flinch but he understood where the blond twenty-four year old was coming from.

"I-I guess I understand…" The redhead smiled sadly. Threading his fingers through his crimson hair, Axel laid back in his comfy leather chair and propped his feet up on the desk.

Watching his superior try to play it cool, Roxas shook his head with a knowing smile.

"I hope you know that I'm going to give this to my son." Roxas said as he held the teddy bear up and waved it in the air.

Axel clicked his tongue and shrugged. "I figured as much, I mean that is why I bought it in the first place."

"If you say so, I was just letting you know, sir."

"Sir?" He arched a brow and glared at his underling lightly. "You make me sound old Roxas."

"Well, sorry Mr. Trenton." The blond teased.

"Now you're just doing it on purpose. Just call me Axel, at least when it's just the two of us like this." Axel pouted. "How many times have I had to tell you otherwise?"

"Every day I think." Roxas replied.

Setting the bear down on his desk, he gave it one last glance before finally getting down to work.

"Axel…" Roxas murmured, his cheeks flushing once the name escaped from his lips.

Seeing how silent and absent minded looking the blond became, Axel cleared his throat. "So uh, your son, Lea was it?"

"Y-yeah?" Roxas looked up from a paper he grabbed.

"You think maybe one day, I could meet him? I mean not anytime soon of course but it'd be nice to know what kind of competition I have since you're so wrapped up around him." Axel tried to joke but it came out a little awkward than he originally thought.

Roxas sat there, his face completely blank for a minute before he finally broke out into a smile and started to laugh. Axel was taken aback by his reaction and to say that it didn't hurt his ego would be a lie.

"We'll see." Roxas said as he brought a hand up to cover the volume of his constant giggling.

The blond looked so carefree. Seeing such a lively glow from his assistant, Axel couldn't help but smile at him and wonder just how much the mysterious Lea was alike to his father, Roxas Strife.

The two of them didn't quite understand just where they were headed to, but it was definitely a start to something new that much was certain.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story they belong respectfully to Square Enix.
> 
> Music: You by Brown Eyed Girls
> 
> A/N: After some food for thought I have decided to add some bonus chapters after I complete this story just for you guys! (': but that will have to come into play a little later. If you have any suggestions, maybe a bit that was mentioned in the story but wasn't elaborated on that you want to see in the bonus chapters I'm planning, you're welcome to send me a PM (:
> 
> Now please enjoy chapter 3!

After making amends that Monday morning, Roxas and Axel's cooperation with each other grew extensively throughout the week. The redhead's attitude towards his underling was still light hearted and perverted though—that part didn't change but the way his green eyes lingered on Roxas had an effect on the blond, causing him to sometimes stop and consider his superior's actions whenever he caught the older male staring at him for long periods of time. Still, it was obvious that things were changing between them and even Roxas himself was beginning to catch on as the days dragged on towards a new weekend.

Things were looking up, at least that's what Roxas thought until Thursday evening when Axel and him became too impatient while waiting for the elevator. Whatever was happening to stall their usual mode of transportation down to the ground floor made the pair restless just standing around tapping their toes against the tile flooring. Roxas was especially aching to be on his way home to check up on Lea and when Axel suggested taking the stairs together, the blond assistant accepted the offer with some reluctance only because he somehow managed to fall for the redhead's bet about being able to beat the elevator down.

Axel's long legs kept him at least two or three steps ahead of Roxas when they began descending the flight of stairs. It actually annoyed Roxas how his boss wasn't putting any effort into his long strides, noticing how easily the redhead could skip a step down while he struggled just trying to keep up with him. For a twenty-four year old, Roxas was rather short, a good five foot four and his height was one of the few things he was personally insecure about. That one simple insecurity of his was why he ended up slipping down the steps when he tried to pick up his pace and prove that he could move just as fast down the stairs as Axel.

Roxas didn't think that Axel would notice him when he began to tumble forward but he was caught off guard the next second when Axel actually did stop to turn around and catch him. Unfortunately the redhead didn't anticipate the collision to be strong enough to knock the wind right out of him and he ended up falling down the stairs a few steps down himself with Roxas held close against his chest as a result.

It was currently Friday and the event had taken place just the other day. Despite the long hours that passed since it happened, Roxas still felt extremely flustered. He remembered what had happened so clearly that it was no surprise how red his face got throughout the day at work as he went about his business just thinking about it.

  
o0o  


_"R-roxas, are you okay?" Axel groaned painfully. "Ow…"_

_The two men were sprawled out on the stairs, their legs tangled up as they started to move to try and readjust themselves._

_"Nyah, sir?.." Roxas felt stunned. He was still traumatized since he had been so close to landing on his face but once he realized that he was unharmed he unconsciously laid his head back down against the redhead's body with a long sigh and clung to the front of his shirt._

_Axel growled lightly and he struggled to sit up. In his attempts, he felt his back crack a few times but he ignored it in favor of lifting his assistance's face up by the chin to stare straight down at him in the eye._

_"I thought I told you to call me Axel when we're alone." The redhead leaned down until the tips of their noses were almost touching as he mumbled each word. He stared into dazed ocean blue eyes—so deep and swirling with an unreadable emotion that he couldn't help but feel as if he could get lost in them forever just searching for some sort of understanding._

_"A-Axel?" Roxas stared back, the name rolling off his tongue in a way that left the redhead's spine tingling._

_"That's right." Axel smiled softly and he moved in closer._

_Realizing the gap between them was closing, Roxas slowly began to regain his senses and his eyes widened. The feel of the other's hot breath against his face made him blush instantly and within seconds he was screaming. His outburst virtually stopped Axel in his tracks and the next thing the redhead knew was that he'd been shoved roughly back down as Roxas scrambled to get up off of him._

_"I'm sorry! I'm sorry Mr. Trenton!" The blond cried as he stumbled a little on his feet and began running down the rest of the steps in a panic—leaving poor Axel behind to lie upside down on the staircase feeling confused and baffled by his assistant's reaction._

  
o0o  


Remembering how pathetic and nervous he had been the other day just about killed Roxas' self-esteem even more. He couldn't stop thinking about it though! The way Axel looked at him; it was much different compared to the way he usually acted, like whenever he tried to get into his pants. Yesterday on the stairwell, the redhead was glowing with sincerity—he was being serious about his actions and Roxas liked it, he really liked it! He had been charmed! Then again, there was the possibility of Axel's façade being an act all together but Roxas wasn't so keen on believing his boss to be that cruel. But still, it was embarrassing and he wanted to forget about it but how could he when he was sitting at his desk not too far away from the redhead himself?

Throughout the entire day, Roxas' eyes wandered over to his superior's desk, the guy working away diligently at whatever he was doing. Not once did Axel bring up the topic about what had happened and for professional appearances it was better to just forget about it and act like it never happened. But it did happen and Roxas couldn't get it out of his head no matter what he tried to do to distract himself. How he managed to function all day without acting too bizarre around Axel was beyond him, that's for sure.

By the time work wrapped up and Roxas began tidying his desk space and packing his suitcase, he was surprised to find Axel looking down at him with an odd grin.

"Can I help you?" Roxas arched a brow, the look on his superior's face making him feel apprehensive the longer they stared at each other.

"You promised me last week on Thursday that you'd go out drinking with me and I've come to collect." Axel grinned wider.

"I-I did?" Roxas asked shakily.

"Yup, you told me you don't drink on weekdays and when I threatened to fire you, which was a joke mind you—you agreed to hang out with me after work at Seventh Heaven next Friday. It's Friday."

"Uhh—" Roxas was tongue tied.

"Come on, grab your suitcase and let's go!" Axel beamed, his green eyes sparkling unnaturally with a bout of enthusiasm.

Roxas stuttered, his mouth opening and closing but saying nothing to neither protest nor agree to the notion. Seeing him hesitate, Axel decided to swoop down and take his suitcase for him, thus sealing his assistant's fate as he swung the bag over his shoulder and walked merrily towards the doors.

"What! Hey! Give that back!" Roxas shouted once he realized that he'd been robbed and within seconds he was chasing after his boss.

  
o0o0o0o  


About two hours after that little stunt, Roxas found himself sitting next to his boss at Seventh Heaven, the redhead already having consumed his forth beer while he still had yet to finish his first. Still spiteful towards his boss for having ruined his plans, Roxas finally called home to tell his brother about the mess that he was in. With a snort, Cloud's only reply was telling him to have fun for once in his life since the younger Strife needed to do something else besides obsessing over his parental responsibilities and being a workaholic. It made Roxas click his tongue in annoyance but he could see where his older brother was coming from nonetheless. With a heavy sigh, he took heed of Cloud's advice and after telling Lea a quick promise of being home as fast as possible to read him a story before bed, Roxas hung up.

"Telling your little boy good night?" Axel asked, his fingers curled tightly around the neck of his beer bottle.

Blinking, Roxas furrowed his brow slightly. "Something like that but I was just letting my brother and Lea know that I'll be coming home late since you forcibly dragged me out here…" Roxas grumbled.

"Oh? Upset are we?" Axel laughed.

"O-of course I am!"

"Hey, no need to shout. Come on, learn to have a little fun every once in a while." The redhead teased.

"What? Are you saying I don't know how to have fun?" Roxas shot him a dirty look.

"Maybe?" Axel took a long drink from his beer.

"I know how to have fun…" Roxas muttered and turned his eyes glaringly at the table.

"Spikey? No wait, Roxas!"

"Huh?" The blond looked up surprisingly to see a familiar face. Instantly he smiled at the tall brunet standing in front of him. "Tifa!"

"How've you been short stuff?"

The word short left him frowning, but Roxas let it slide. "Good actually, what about you? I haven't seen you in ages."

"Great, business is going well as usual if not steady. How is Cloud and Leon doing by the way? And what about Lea? He hasn't been misbehaving or causing any trouble has he?"

"Whoa, slow down Tif. Cloud and Leon are the same as always—if not boring from my perspective but I could be wrong." Roxas scratched the side of his head. "And Lea's good, but last weekend he got sick so he's been staying at home in order to get better."

"The flu right? It is flu season after."

"Yup, that's the bugger alright."

"Aw, poor little guy. I hope he feels better soon."

"Hold up, you guys know each other?" Axel finally asked after getting tired of being ignored by his blond haired assistant.

"Oh, right. This is—"

"Tifa Lockhart and I are already well acquainted but as for you, I never knew you had any personal connections to her." Axel cut in and said pointedly.

Looking back and forth between his boss and family friend; Roxas' furrow deepened.

"He's a regular customer." Tifa commented and it served to relax Roxas a little but he couldn't help but still feel as though there was an underlining meaning behind the way Axel revealed his relations with Tifa to him.

Still feeling uneasy, Roxas pushed it aside for the moment and tried to smile. "I've known Tifa since I was a kid, she was my babysitter whenever my uncle and brother weren't around to look after me."

"Seriously?" Axel turned his gaze on Tifa. "You never mentioned that you knew Roxas either."

"Well you never brought him up so how was I supposed to tell you about him?"

"Touché."

"Anyways…" Roxas looked back and forth between his boss and Tifa. "She was my babysitter when I was a kid?"

"Oh? Guess I wasn't listening." The redhead commented. "What was he like Tif?

"He was a menace. I could never get him to listen to me unless I gave him a bar of sea salt ice cream!" Tifa began to giggle.

"Really now?" Axel grinned mischievously and rested his elbow against the table. "Please, do tell me more, I'd love to know what my little assistant was like as a kid."

"Hold on now! Don't tell him Tif! Or else he's going to use it against me at work!" Roxas protested but his words fell on deaf ears.

"Oh god, you wouldn't believe it Axel. Ever since Roxas learned how to talk back at people when he was seven, he always got into fights. Even though he was always the little guy, he never ceased to amaze us because he always, and I mean always came out as the winner. Personally, I think he got that fiery temper and monstrous strength from his brother because even Cloud had been a rough and tumble kind of guy himself when I was a kid."

Axel whistled. "Wow, and he still hasn't grown out of his temper to be honest."

"I figured he wouldn't." Tifa smiled.

"Shut up you two…"

"No way, please do continue on with your story." The redhead urged.

"Well, okay. Let me think…" Tifa swayed on the heels of her feet." I got it! When Roxas was nine years old, he tried to pick a fight with his brother's husband, Leon. This was way before Cloud and him became a couple but still, the two of them were always seen together once they became friends during our junior year of high school. Cloud and Roxas are a good eight years apart, so Cloud has always been the one to take care of him but when Leon entered the picture, you can only imagine how mad a nine year old kid would feel about having his best friend and hero taken away from him all of a sudden."

"What did our little Roxy do to this Leon guy?"

"God…" The brunet's body shook a little as she tried to contain her laughter. "He—he… Cloud and Leon had a project due for biology, and the night before Leon came over Roxas found out. He played sick the next day and since no one was home to look after him, he booby trapped the entire house and waited for his brother and Leon! I wasn't there but the day after it happened, Leon came to school with shorter hair. It was hilarious though because before, he had long shoulder length hair right? And seeing it chopped off and styled differently was a huge wakeup call for the female population. After that, Leon suddenly had this mass group of girls after him from out of nowhere during his last two years of high school and no matter what he did they wouldn't leave him alone!"

Being reminded of his childhood shenanigans, Roxas groaned. Even though Leon and him were on good terms now, he was positive that his brother's husband still held some level of resentment for what he had done to him that day and the pranks after that.

"You must have been the devil!" Axel crackled as he held his stomach.

"Believe me, he was!" Tifa added.

As the pair's laughter slowly died down, Axel glanced towards the blond who sat looking dejectedly in his seat with his arms crossed tightly against his chest. Seeing the obvious pout, Axel chuckled at the sight and moved a hand to ruffle his assistant's hair.

"What do you think you're doing?" Roxas hissed.

"Just comforting my beautiful yet hormonal assistant since he's practically burning holes into the table top."

"Oh Roxas come on, lighten up a little. Why are you always so serious?" Tifa questioned as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, Roxy." The redhead added.

The duo's attempt in trying to calm down his nerves served to increase Roxas' growing temper and the longer they stared him down the more he wanted to flip the table over. Their instant connection and buddy, buddy attitude towards each other was another thing that infuriated him and he was belittling himself at the same time for feeling territorial all of a sudden when he shouldn't be.

Seeing that her attention was needed elsewhere, Tifa waved at the pair. "Looks like my little break with you two is over. I'll probably be back but I can't give you guys a guarantee. See you around!" And just like that, the brunet was gone.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, Roxas eyed his untouched bottle of Port Royal's famous rum. Slowly wrapping his fingers around the neck, he brought it up to his lips and drank.

"You looked like you really wanted her to leave."

Practically slamming his drink down onto the table after hearing that comment, Roxas glared. "Gee, and here I thought you wouldn't notice. Is it really that obvious?" The blond rolled his eyes and took another swig of his rum.

Now it was Axel's turn to frown. He'd never seen the blond react this way before and it quite literally baffled him. In the past he had been subjected to his assistant's wrath in the form of creative insults and a few flying objects here and there but being given a glare that was fouler than the blonde's usual stink eye unnerved the redhead. The longer he pondered as to why Roxas was being incredibly obnoxious though the more Axel began to realize that it was most likely his fault.

However, Axel still didn't like the way his assistant was giving him the cold shoulder and he shrugged in annoyance as he chugged the rest of his beer down. Wiping the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, he crossed his right leg over the other and signaled a waiter for a fifth beer. "Tck, if you were jealous of your old babysitter why didn't you just say so?" Axel muttered unconsciously.

For a second, Roxas sat in his chair completely frozen with shock. The redhead probably thought he wouldn't have heard it but damn it all he had pretty good hearing and he didn't miss a single word.

Gritting his teeth angrily, Roxas figured that enough was enough. Before Axel could comprehend his actions, Roxas grabbed his bag from off the ground. Digging around in the pockets, he pulled out his wallet; sifting through the content's, he quickly found a twenty dollar bill and slammed it down on the table. Without even bothering to finish the rest of his alcoholic drink, he then got up and started marching towards the front door of the bar.

Startled by his assistant's sudden aggression, Axel stood up on his feet and slammed his hands against the table. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Home." Roxas said flatly.

"Why? What are you so mad about all of a sudden!"

Just as he wrapped his hand around the doorknob, Roxas whipped around and glared at the redhead. "Don't try to play dumb with me! Now, I suggest that you sit there and think about what you've done to make me angry!" Without waiting for his bosses reply, Roxas practically ran out the door.

Even though his assistant was long gone, Axel couldn't help but yell after him in the hopes of getting the last word—even if the blond couldn't hear him. "How the fuck am I supposed to think about my actions when you won't even tell me what I did! I can't read your mind stupid!"

Clicking his tongue, Axel suddenly realized the silence around him and looked up to find the entire bar staring curiously at him. It made him feel uncomfortable but he growled anyways. "What are all of you looking at?"

The hostile tone in his voice sent various chills down many of the bystander's spines. Once they shifted nervously back to whatever they were previously doing, Axel sank down into his chair. Racking over the scene in his head he then pulled at his hair and snarled. "Damn it what did I do!"

Having witnessed the angry exchange between the two men, Tifa walked right back up to Axel's table and knocked three times on the wood surface. "Hey, what just happened?"

"The hell if I know!" He replied exasperatedly.

Another waiter came by seconds later, placing a freshly opened bottle of beer in front of the redhead.

"Finally!" Just as he was about to grab it though, Tifa seized the drink before he could wrap his fingers around it.

"I don't think so pal. Now, explain what happened between you and Roxas."

"Look, I don't know! One minute he was all quiet the next he was fuming like a tea kettle, now give me back my beer!"

"Yeah right, Roxas doesn't get mad without a reason. So spill it, what did you do to him?" Tifa glared.

Clicking his tongue, Axel growled before snatching his beer back from the waitress. "It wasn't just me, it was you too. He was probably jealous for all I know…" He said as he brought the bottle up to his lips and drank.

"Jealous? Wait, are you talking about earlier?" Tifa asked, her brow furrowing.

"Yeah? He must have heard me accuse him of being jealous and then he just stormed off…"

"You told him he was jealous?"

"It slipped my mind! I didn't think he would actually hear me so get off my back!"

Tifa watched as Axel downed his beer deeply. "Slipped your mind huh? Well I wonder why…"

Putting the bottle down, Axel narrowed his eyes. "Are you trying to say I'm drunk?"

"It's quite possible that you already are considering that you're trying to deny it but also because you're being more of an ass than usual."

"Oh please, you love it."

"No I don't actually, and apparently neither does Roxas since you practically sent him running."

"Shut your mouth." He snarled.

"You know it's true!" Tifa countered. Glaring at him, the brunet looked over her shoulder and whistled for one of the waitresses at the bar. "Hey, I need to run an errand really quick so hold up the fort for me!"

After receiving an approved shout back, Tifa then turned back to the tipsy redhead. "Whether you like it or not, you're coming with me to apologize to Roxas."

"S'cuse me?" He blinked.

"You heard me, now get off your sorry ass Axel."

"No. If you think for one second I'm going to crawl and beg for forgiven from that half pint you've got another thing coming Tifa Lockhart."

Seeing how stubborn he was being, the brunet took that as a challenge and narrowed her eyes dangerously at him. "Are you threatening me Axel Trenton?"

"Yeah, got a problem with that doll?" Axel asked drunkenly as he tried to wave her off with his hand.

  
o0o  


"I'm back."

"You're home early, weren't you supposed to be out at the bar with your boss? Normally coworkers come home late if they go out together after work. Why are you here?"

Roxas paused at the doorway, his lips turned up in a frown as his left eye began to twitch with annoyance. "Thanks for the welcome home, I love you too Cloud."

"You're welcome." The older Strife snorted. "So, how did your short lived hours of relaxation go?"

"Horrible."

"Are you serious?"

"Does it look like I'm joking to you?" Roxas literally yanked his shoes right off. Looking up at his older brother, he gave the other blond a dirty scowl.

Cloud shrugged, he should have known that something bad was going to happen since the younger male had been forced to go out regardless of whether he had wanted to or not. Still it didn't hurt to try and hope that he had at least tried to push his brother in the right direction. And yet, seeing Roxas' hardened expression was rather off putting and being the older brother it was natural for Cloud to want to ask him what had happened to make him so mad.

"I'm guessing you lost your temper which is why it went horrible, right?"

"State the obvious why don't you." Roxas grumbled. Marching straight to their kitchen, he went in search of a clean cup from the dish washer and then proceeded to place it under the faucet and then lift the handle to turn on the water.

"What happened?" Cloud yawned.

"My boss and Tifa happened."

"Tifa? Tifa Lockhart?"

"Yeah, what other Tifa would I be talking about?"

"What does she have anything to do with you being mad?" The older blond asked.

"I—I don't know… just for butting into my conversation with my boss…" Roxas mumbled and took a sip of the tap water from his cup. Remembering whatever conversation it was he had been having with Axel—the blond realized how bad of an excuse it was to justify the sour mood he was in. No, there had hardly been any discussion going on even before the brunet entered the picture but he wasn't about to tell Cloud that.

"Oh? Why does it sound like you were jealous of her for stealing your man?" Cloud crossed his arms and smirked knowingly. "Come on, admit it—Tifa's body is to die for, who wouldn't stop to appreciate her assets and talk to her?"

Roxas spat out his drink and coughed raggedly. Slamming the cup down onto the counter, he glared daggers at the older Strife and gritted his teeth. Seeing the animalistic intent, Cloud immediately brought his hands up in defense.

"Cloud…"

"Whoa, down tiger."

"This discussion is now over." Roxas hissed warningly. "And my boss isn't my man!"

Knowing that if he were to try and work around the subject, Cloud was sure that his younger brother wouldn't hesitate to attack him, literally. Sighing, he rolled his eyes and gave the other blond an apathetic look. "Whatever, but I rest my case."

Silence was shared between the two brothers but it didn't take long for it to be replaced by a much lighter atmosphere.

"Daddy!" Lea cried, his small feet running across the floor as he rushed to hug Roxas around the legs.

"Hey! How are you feeling today?" Roxas smiled instantly. Kneeling down, he scooped the little redhead up into his arms to hug him close.

"Much better! And Uncle Leon gave me a bath so now I'm all clean!"

"That's great! I'm so glad." Picking him up, Roxas took Lea back to their bedroom, leaving his brother alone in the kitchen. "I was worried about you at work."

"Daddy, you're always worrying." Lea said.

Entering their room, Roxas settled his son down on the mattress and then moved to place his suitcase against the side of his desk.

"I can't help it, after all you're my handsome little prince." Roxas cooed at him before grabbing the young boy and smothering him in a tight bear hug. Laughing, he swayed them from side to side and nuzzled his cheek against the boy's face.

"Daddy!" Lea giggled as he tried to get away but with no success. "Stop it!"

"Aw, fine." Roxas pouted jokingly.

Putting his son down, he began loosening his tie and would have yanked it completely off if it hadn't been for the knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" Cloud hollered from the adjoined kitchen and living room.

"Daddy?" Lea looked up at his father. "It's really late, why would someone be knocking at our door?"

"I don't know, but I really don't like it."

"Is it a monster like in the movies?" The little redhead quivered.

"Monster?" It took a minute for Roxas to understand but once he remembered Leon's habit of watching horror movies despite Lea's presence in the house, he growled. "Leon… You were watching those scary movies with him again weren't you?"

"Maybe?"

Roxas sighed. "Lea, there is no such thing as monsters now just stay here while I go check up on your uncle Cloud, okay?"

"Fine…"

Releasing another sigh, Roxas exited his bedroom, leaving the door ajar as he ventured out towards the apartment entrance where Cloud stood stiffly.

"Is Roxas here?" A deep yet familiar voice asked grudgingly, causing the blond to stop in his tracks and wonder skeptically who was asking for him at this late hour.

Feeling cautious, Roxas continued on and squeezed himself next to his older brother to meet their mysterious late night visitor. Upon seeing the person though, the blond gasped, his eyes bugging out as he stood there frozen in place to see that it was his boss of all people that was at his doorstep. Taking in his appearance, the redhead looked disheveled if not worse for wear. After blinking and rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things, Roxas could have sworn the purpling blemish on Axel's cheek was a bruise of some sorts and it made him wonder where in the world his superior had obtained the injury during the short amount of time that they'd been apart.

No matter how badly Axel's current state looked though, it didn't deter Roxas from giving the older man a warning glare. It made the redhead flinch back some, and the taller blond next to his assistant seemed just as menacing now that he'd seen the way Roxas was reacting to him.

"H-hey, Roxas…"

"What are you doing here sir?" Roxas asked sharply.

"I came here to apologize for earlier." Axel made the mistake of grumbling out his reply and instantly Roxas' temper began to boil.

"Apologize? Yeah right, if you were really here to apologize you wouldn't be acting like you don't care about the situation or my feelings."

"Hey! I'm trying to be nice here!" The redhead growled.

"Oh please, the moment I heard your voice at my door you were far from nice or sincere about your actions. I don't want your fake apology, sir. Either say you're sorry for real or leave." Roxas challenged, his blue eyes glaring coldly up at his boss as Axel stood back and stuttered.

"Wha? Damn it! Fine, you got me! I came here against my will because Tif beat the shit out of me and demanded that I come here to apologize! She even went the extra mile and dumped me here at your apartment herself!"

"So you did come here under false pretense!" Roxas yelled accusingly.

"Roxas, I'm the boss here! And I have the power to fire you, so just take my fucking apology already so that I can go home!"

"No! I refuse to accept your bullshit of an apology!" Roxas screamed. Stepping forward, he balled up his fist as his body began to shake in anger. "How dare you come here with an attitude like that, expecting me to just accept your words of regret for disregarding me earlier and for everything else that has happened? Especially yesterday!"

"Why must you talk so damn much!" Axel groaned loudly before grabbing Roxas by the shoulders. Shaking the shorter male, his fingers dug painfully into the blonde's shoulder blades—making him wince out sharply. "Just shut up, you overreacting—ACK!"

Axel crossed the line the moment he touched Roxas. Having stood back in silence and watched the scene unfold between chief and subordinate the entire time, Cloud lost it once the redheaded male made the move to harm the younger blond. In a blind flash of rage, Cloud had bounded less than three steps towards the pair and seconds after Axel started shaking Roxas, the older Strife's fist connected with the vice president's cheek.

Roxas stood virtually frozen in shock by what his brother had done. During his spat with Axel, he had completely forgotten that Cloud was there to begin with and now seeing his boss on the ground unmoving just seconds after being physically assaulted by him left the shorter blond speechless.

The two brothers were silent for a long time. Looking back and forth between each other and then down at the unconscious body of Axel Trenton. To put it lightly, they were in deep shit.

"Hey, what's going on here? I heard yelling." Leon appeared from behind the Strife brothers with a heavy yawn, unaware of the bout of violence his husband had committed.

Not too long after Leon entered the scene, Lea bounded towards the three conscious males and hugged the brunet around the legs. "Whoa! It's a dead guy!" He pointed.

"What?" Leon blinked, finally realizing just what he was seeing in front of his apartment. "What did the two of you do?"

The brunet was no stranger to the true extent of the Strife brother's fury. From his own experience and from that of others, Cloud and Roxas were a force to be reckoned with not only because of their cold exterior but because they were the type of people to act on their emotions. Some people actually found it unbelievable that Cloud and Roxas even had such short tempers since they usually appeared quiet and collective but Leon knew that it was merely a front. Once individuals were able to establish a connection with the two men, it never took long for those said individuals to find a way to dance on the brothers nerves—and when that happened, the consequences were terrifying.

"M—my boss came here to apologize… we started arguing, he grabbed me and Cloud punched him… Oh my god, oh my god!" Roxas suddenly exclaimed, his hands instantly going up to grab at his blond hair. "Cloud punched my boss! I'm so fired now and my reputation is screwed!"

Glaring pointedly at Cloud, Leon sighed heavily and began rubbing his temple to ease the growing frustration. "Cloud…"

"You would have done the same thing too, Leon." Cloud crossed his arms. The blank look on the taller blonde's face said it all and it was obvious that he held no ounce of regret for his violent deed. "Just because Roxas is an adult now doesn't mean it'll stop me from ever protecting him."

"No comment."

"Guys! What do we do?" Roxas hyperventilated.

"Put him in the garbage?" Lea remarked innocently.

"Lea! That's a horrible idea!" His father cried.

"It was just a suggestion daddy…"

"I—I, oh… I'm sorry for yelling Lea." Roxas looked down guiltily.

Deciding to take action himself, Cloud rolled his eyes and walked over to Axel's right side. Kneeling down, he hooked his elbows under the unconscious redhead's arms and lifted him up easily. Grasping him by the wrist, he maneuvered the lanky body up until he had Axel hanging over his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Leon asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm taking him inside, so make room."

Stepping back, Leon pressed himself and Lea against the wall of the foyer, allowing Cloud to proceed inside the apartment with Axel in toll. Roxas and Lea quickly followed after the two and after closing and locking the door, Leon joined the rest of his family in the living room. Cloud placed Axel down on the couch none too gently. After pulling away, he wrinkled his nose in disgust from the scent of booze and smoke that was emanating off the unconscious redhead—the odor much too strong for him to tolerate.

"There, problem solved." Cloud said as he tried to wave the stench in the air away from his personal bubble.

"No! No it's not!" Roxas turned glaringly at his brother. "Once he wakes up I'm as good as dead!"

"And how is that my problem? Weren't the two you already in deep from earlier?"

"Y-yeah but you made it worse!" Roxas pointed accusingly at him and in return received an obnoxious snot.

Biting his quivering lip, Lea tugged on his father's pants leg. "Daddy please don't yell anymore, I don't like it when you get mad."

Seeing the sad look on the little boy's face, Roxas instantly became ashamed of himself. There had only been a few occasions where Lea had laid witness to his temper and each time he regretted it. Smiling dejectedly at his son, Roxas kneeled down to hug him close.

"I'm sorry little guy, I won't yell anymore today, okay?"

Scratching the back of his head, Leon coughed lightly to make his existence in the room known. "It's getting late, the guy is knocked out cold no thanks to Cloud and we shouldn't continue arguing over the matter anymore. Just throw a blanket over him and call it a night already, we'll have all the time in the morning to deal with the problem so for now we just need to wait it out."

"Great suggestion, oh wise one." Cloud noted with a smirk.

Shrugging, Leon waved a hand and with that said left the living room in favor of crawling under the sheets of his bed. It didn't take long for Cloud to follow his husband out either and that left Roxas and Lea alone with Axel in the living room.

Peeking over Roxas' shoulder, Lea made a short hum. "Hey daddy, that guy has really bright red hair just like me!"

Glancing back, Roxas stared at the long spikes of hair that protruded from his bosses scalp then back down at his son. He'd made the connection of Lea's similar appearance to Axel the moment the vice president had hired him last year but he never divulged into the matter. Now seeing his little boy next to the older man, he couldn't help but feel something tugging at his chest. It was a small droning, almost a warning sign of some sorts as it served to fuel a growing curiosity in him along with a shred of fear.

"Yeah, you do have similar hair color."

"Mmhmm! Do you think I'll grow up to look as tall as him?" Lea's chubby fingers pointed.

"M-maybe someday, but hey little guy it's getting late, I still need to read you your bedtime story and then we have to go to sleep, okay?"

"Yes sir."

"Good." Lifting Lea up into his arms, Roxas stood and began walking towards their bedroom.

After settling his little bundle of joy down on the bed, Roxas turned back towards the closet in the hallway. , After promising Lea that he'd be back in a minute, Roxas quickly left the room. He retrieved one of the spare blankets from the hallway closet, holding the thick material against his chest as he went back to living room. Axel was still in the same sleeping position that he had left him in and after sighing dismally; Roxas unfolded the blanket and draped it over his superior's body. Spreading it thoroughly on top of Axel's body, he double checked to make sure that the blanket covered every inch of the redhead's lanky body.

Once he was satisfied, Roxas took a moment to stare at Axel's sleeping face. It was still a shock to him, how today had played out like this and even more so that his boss of all people was laid out in front of him on his couch. Never in his life did he ever imagine something like this happening to him—but the impossible was made possible and no matter how hard he was trying to visualize the situation in a logical scenario it didn't quite fit. The more Roxas thought about it, the more he realized just where he really was at this stage in his life. He never imagined finding Lea in that trashcan four years ago, he never imagined adopting Lea while still being a college student and becoming a father to him either so he shouldn't be surprised that Axel was out cold on his couch. And yet he still was. But Lea—the boy was a completely different story. He had absolutely no regrets for the decisions that he had made for the four year old thus far and he wasn't about to let what Cloud did to Axel get under his skin any more than it already did. If he was going to be fired in the morning, he was going to take it with pride and move on with his life because when one door closes, another is bound to open.

Feeling more accepting of his resolution now, Roxas suddenly realized that it was the first time that he had ever seen the redhead look so vulnerable—peaceful looking to be more exact. Sure he'd witness Axel give an earnest smile, even a laugh or two but this was different and unconsciously the emotions swirling in Roxas' chest urged him to reach out towards his boss. With his fingers just inches from touching Axel's cheek, the blonde's hand froze—just moments away from making contact with the soft skin of the redhead's face. Retracting his hand, he pressed it against his chest and took a step back.

"What am I doing?"

Still standing there looking down at his boss, Roxas finally shook his head and with mild hesitation he turned his back and went to turn off the living room lights before going back to his room to read Lea his bedtime story.

Roxas ended up reading the story of Hercules to Lea and as always the little four year old fell asleep half way through. At the beginning he had been excited, acting much like the energetic hero in the story himself but once Roxas got to the part about Hercules and Meg running off together the redhead was floating on cloud nine with a thin line of drool crawling down from the corner of his mouth.

Putting the book down on the side table, Roxas got up and stripped out of his work clothes in exchange for some proper sleeping attire. Once he pulled on an old college t-shirt over his head, Roxas laid down next to Lea and dragged their blanket over their bodies. He couldn't deny that he was tired, but it wasn't in the same sense where he could fall asleep in an instant. His mind was still awake and to have a body that ached with fatigue but with a mind that was still aware and alert of its surroundings was the worst kind of feeling for him.

Tossing and turning carefully on the bed, Roxas gave out a breathless sigh. Rubbing his tired blue eyes with the heels of his palms, he shifted onto his side until he was met by the sight of Lea's sleeping face. The four year old was dead asleep, there was no denying it and the way he batted his hand a little and jabbed at Roxas' with his feet made the blond smile. As he continued to stare at the soft contours of Lea's peaceful looking face under the faint glow of the night light shining from the corner of the room, Roxas felt as though he was seeing something familiar—like déjà vu.

Furrowing his brow, Roxas contemplated only a moment longer before shutting his eyes completely to try and block out the confusion he was beginning to feel. Time was ticking, it was getting late and he really didn't want to lie in bed all night thinking about whatever it was that was bothering him that he didn't quite understand. It was an intuitive feeling, one that had a fifty percent chance of being bad or being good but it was still a feeling nonetheless. Still, whatever it was—Roxas didn't want to deal with it anymore, at least until tomorrow.

With another half released sigh, Roxas let his mind go blank and he finally forced himself to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus chapters are actually being planned after this story is completed! If you missed my author's notes above, you're allowed to PM me suggestions of what to write including bits that were mentioned in the story but wasn't elaborated on that you want to see happen. I already have one bonus chapter in mind but I want to give you guys at least three to read (:


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story they belong respectfully to Square Enix.
> 
> Music: "Always" by Tomohisa Sako

  
o0o0o0o  


Axel woke up to a strange weight sitting diligently on top of his chest. He didn't notice it in his sleep at first but gradually as time passed he began to feel the pressure of the object weighing down on his lungs. Of course, it made his breathing process unusually challenging for him, so it was no surprise that his unconscious state began to waver. As the dark clouds in his mind began to clear, Axel found it quite bizarre that whatever it was on top of him wouldn't stop squirming around or giggling, even going so far as to poke at his face too, which did not sit well with him at all. The soft noises above him began to stir up his senses even more and when a light tug on his hair was felt, it set Axel off into finally waking up.

Wrinkling his nose, the redhead grumbled under his breath, cursing once or twice about the splitting headache he was experiencing. Groaning, he clicked his tongue once he heard another twitter of laughter and he could only assume that it was probably from a girl he picked up the night before which oddly enough he couldn't remember doing. Reluctantly, Axel opened his weary green eyes, readying himself to start yelling his head off at whoever it was that chose to wake him up so indiscriminately. However, the moment he looked up to encounter the mysterious person though, Axel found himself staring directly into the face of a child-like mirror who had a head of brilliant redhead just like his and the same shade of emerald green eyes. Noting this as his eyes moved up and down the little boy, it made the twenty-seven year old stiffen instantly.

"Good morning Mr!" The younger redhead beamed excitedly at him.

In contrast to the child's animated behavior, Axel was more than shell shocked if not petrified by what he was seeing and it didn't take long for his face to pale the longer he stared into the boy's crystal green eyes.

"Wha—Ahh!"

"Ahh!"

In his growing state of hysteria, Axel scrambled on the couch in order to sit up properly but in the process his jerky movements caused the unnamed boy in his lap to tip over and fall down onto the floor. Seeing the four year old sprawled out silently on his back at the foot of the sofa, the older redhead froze. Realizing just what he had done, it took no less than a few seconds for Axel to fear for the worst possible outcome as the child slowly became teary eyed.

Just as he'd feared, the boy gave out a loud piercing wail. Axel immediately went to cover his ears to try to muffle the terrible sound but the child's cries were ear splitting and he shuddered the entire time the little boy cried. Seeing him clutch a rather familiar looking bear though, it steadily dawned on the green eyed male that this child wasn't just any random kid. Not long after the child's first screams, Axel heard a pair of feet running down the hallway behind him and whoever it was they were quick to make their appearance in the living room known.

"Lea!"

Axel quickly turned to the sound of the other's familiar voice only to see a disheveled version of his blond assistant. "Wha? R-roxas?" The twenty-four year old had a bad case of bed head and he was dressed in a college t-shirt and striped cotton pajama pants—something he wasn't exactly used to seeing the blond wear but it reminded Axel that his uptight subordinate was still human and just like everyone else.

Ignoring his superior, Roxas ran straight to his son and instantly gathered him up into his arms. He immediately set to rocking the crying four year old to and fro, the task coming naturally to him after years of practice as he smoothed the red locks of his hair down. Holding Lea close to his chest, the blond cooed comfortingly—his fingers grazing down along the back of his son's head and repeating the motion over and over again. It was a comforting mechanism and to add to it, he kissed the top of Lea's head several times.

"It's okay Lea, I'm here now, don't cry." Roxas said.

It took a few minutes but eventually the little redhead calmed down enough to where he was able to lay his head against his father and sniffle quietly, his chubby arms still wrapped tightly around his stuffed bear. Seeing that Lea was finally relaxed, Roxas kissed his temple one last time before shooting a dangerous glare in Axel's direction.

The entire time that Roxas had spent soothing his tearful son; Axel sat there on the couch watching the interaction between him and the boy with great interest. It was the first time he'd seen this side of his assistant before and to observe such a caring and parental persona was certainly a rare occurrence he couldn't allow himself to pass up. Indeed Axel was shocked at where he was though—having no recollection whatsoever as to how he was in the home of Roxas Strife but he felt a sudden warmth in his chest after observing the loving exchange between father and son. Unfortunately for him, that warm feeling was quickly cut short and he grimaced once Roxas turned his attention back to him and stared with a killer's intent in his shocking blue eyes.

"What'd you do to my son!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

Both Axel and Lea trembled under his ever growing wrath and the little boy became nervous as his father fumed and directed his angry towards the other redhead sitting on the couch.

"I-I didn't, I—"

"Bull shit! He was crying! What'd you do to him!"

"Daddy!" Lea whined and hid his face into Roxas' chest.

Hearing his son whimper, Axel was amazed to see the blond stop instantly and drop his furious façade like a sack of potatoes. It was like a light switch with his assistant and it didn't even take a second for him to change the course of his attention back to the little boy.

"What is it Lea?" Roxas cradled him closely.

"You're scaring me, please don't yell anymore." He sniffled. "I-it wasn't his fault, I woke the dead guy up and he got afraid…"

"You woke him up?" Roxas arched a brow.

Lea knew that the blond wouldn't yell at him but he was still somewhat frightened by the idea of Roxas becoming angry since he had been yelling and getting annoyed more often than usual. Silently, Lea nodded his head in response and after glancing shortly up at his father with a pout, he hid his face into his chest once more.

Roxas gave out a heavy sigh and despite still being livid, his love for Lea overpowered the urge to rip his superior in half.

"Okay…" The blond smiled forcefully but it was enough to convince Lea that he was no longer angry. However, as he turned to look back up at Axel again, he narrowed his blue eyes at him and growled. "You're off the hook for now but I swear, if you make my son cry again, you're as good as dog food, got it?"

"Crystal." Axel swallowed. For a moment he thought about threatening his assistant's job again, but after seeing the blonde's fiery gaze—it seemed as though even if he did fire him, he'd just be giving Roxas the opportunity to kill him without any remorse.

"What's with all the commotion out here?"

"Uncle Leon!" Lea shouted excitedly to Axel's amazement.

Yawning deeply, an exhausted looking brunet entered the living room as he ruffled the back of his dark tresses. He then stared tiredly at his brother-in-law and nephew for a few seconds before turning his deep blue eyes on the redhead. Furrowing his brow, he looked at the older male oddly.

"Why is everyone awkward all of a sudden? Am I guessing I crashed the party?"

"You're awful at being funny, you know that right? Please quit while you still have your dignity in tack." Roxas commented bitterly.

"It's called sarcasm, and I'm not the one screaming like a banshee and waking up the whole floor just because someone pissed them off so early in the morning."

"Yeah? Well I wouldn't have been pissed if I hadn't found Lea crying his eyes out because of someone." Roxas said pointedly at Axel who literally shriveled in place after hearing the venom in the blonde's tone.

"Lea was crying?" Leon cocked his head slightly and eyed the four year old.

Having all eyes on him, Lea nodded his head grudgingly. Feeling guilty over having caused quite a scene earlier, the four year old quickly occupied himself by petting the polyester strands of fur on his bear.

"Why was Lea crying?" Leon crossed his arms.

"Because the guy sleeping on our couch apparently got scared shitless after Lea accidentally woke him up." Roxas grumbled; still obviously mad by what had happened.

The older brunet clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes at the sassy attitude his brother-in law displayed, meeting Axel's gaze, he then shook his head and sighed. "Boy do I feel sorry for you. Rule number one in this apartment is to never piss off mama bear over there otherwise he'll eat you up alive and spit you back out."

"And rule number two is to never piss me off either." Cloud came up from behind Leon, his eyes slightly narrowed if not tired looking.

Seeing the older Strife was now awake, Leon slowly backed away from his husband, knowing full well that a tired Cloud was just as dangerous as a pissed off Roxas under their roof.

Cloud rolled his eyes while Roxas snorted in the background and Axel just sat there feeling even more confused than before.

'Where are all of these guys coming from?' He thought to himself. 'How dysfunctional are they?'

"Some lion you are, running away from me with your tail hanging between your legs." Cloud smirked idly.

"Honestly, you'd think a scrawny wolf would have the ability to intimidate the king of the African plains."

The older blond punched his husband in the arm. "I'm far from scrawny. Don't forget that I was the one who—"

Roxas quickly went to cover Lea's ears, muffling out the vulgar string of vocabulary that spelled from his older brother's mouth as best he could. The younger Strife shuddered each time while his son remained completely oblivious to the onslaught of vicious sentences describing his brother and brother-in law's outrageous bedroom activities. The longer Cloud ran his mouth off, the more Roxas felt the urge to want to attack the older man for subjecting his four year old son to such atrocious language and rude behavior despite not being too far behind himself for cursing his boss out like a sailor.

Axel's jaw went completely slack and it literally fell open in seconds once Cloud began talking. He wasn't sure where to even begin describing how he was feeling about his present situation and he was way past the stage of shock, more like petrified by Cloud's assertive nature yet at the same time he felt like he should be taking a few notes on the art of seduction and sex.

"Just because I take it up the—"

"Cloud!" Roxas finally yelled, cutting his brother off and preventing him from creating even more unnecessary, graphical imagery. "Quit scarring me for life! And look what you've done to my boss!"

The older Strife glanced slowly towards the redhead. Arching a brow, he registered how pale the other man looked and yet wasn't at all fazed by the blank expression. Huffing quietly to himself, Cloud shrugged his shoulders and clicked his tongue.

Silence overtook the space afterwards, and since no one was willing to talk in slight fear of making the situation look even more awkward than it already was—Lea took the opportunity to tug at his father's shirt.

"Daddy, can we make pancakes?" Lea asked.

Blinking down at his son, Roxas took in his son's words before looking up briefly at the rest of the males around him. Each of them seemed as though their interests were perked by the idea of pancakes for breakfast, and seeing the innocent glow that was bursting forth from Lea's prevailing smile, Roxas found it really hard not to deny his son's request. Once a short grumble of hunger from someone's stomach was heard, that sealed the deal and Roxas took a moment to stand up properly before lifting Lea back up into his arms again.

"I think pancakes are a great idea, Lea. Would you like to help me?" The blond smiled.

"Yes! I want to stir the batter! Can I daddy? Can I?"

"Of course, my little prince." Roxas replied as they went into the kitchen.

After Roxas and Lea left the other three men behind, Axel's mind continued to revel over the quick change in attitude his young assistant demonstrated. "What just happened?..." he asked more or less to himself but Leon heard his question and snorted.

"Lea has Roxas wrapped around his finger. When Roxas is raging, Lea can easily extinguish the fire simply by crying his little eyes out. The man lives to wrap the kid up in a safety blanket and though it may look odd sometimes, I personally find it both admirable yet hilarious."

Hearing the comment about his younger brother, Cloud glanced warningly at Leon. "Did you really just call my little brother's dedication to Lea hilarious?" He asked.

"Cloud, I didn't mean it in a bad way. I was just joking."

"Not another word from you, Squall." Cloud glared before following after his brother and nephew into the kitchen, thus leaving a disgruntled brunet and perplexed redhead behind in the conjoined living room.

"And I'm guessing he has you wrapped around his finger too, doesn't he?" Axel snickered.

"Don't make me kick you out, because I will."

"Sorry."

"That's what I thought." Leon growled as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

In the kitchen, Roxas and Cloud busied themselves with gathering the necessary ingredients for preparing a pancake breakfast. With a strong determination to be included on all the preparations for the morning meal, Lea dragged one of the dining table chairs close to the stove and quickly climbed up to stand on the soft cushion. Gripping the top of the chair's support, he beamed as Roxas approached him with a large empty bowl.

"Found the pancake mix." Cloud said as he pulled out an unopened box of the stuff and handed it off to the younger blond.

"We just add water right?" Roxas asked, turning the box around to read the instructions on the back.

"I'm pretty sure we have to add some eggs too."

"Eggs! I want eggs! And bacon too!" Lea added.

Chuckling, Cloud went and opened the fridge door to take a quick peek inside at the contents of food that they had. "No bacon here, but we do have sausage links, is that okay with you Lea?"

"Yes, that's just as good!"

"Alright." Cloud said as he began collecting the cold items and taking it over to the counter. He handed two eggs off to Roxas who already had the bowl filled with the dry pancake mix and watched briefly as he began getting to work.

Adding a cup of water, Roxas slowly began mixing the dry and wet contents together. Lea watched excitedly next to him and seeing the little redhead bounce a little on the chair, he laughed. "Alright, are you ready to take over for me?"

"Yes! I'm always ready!" Lea practically shouted.

"Try not to make a mess, okay?" Roxas said, his hand working faster in order to stir a majority of the batter into a smooth yet lump filled consistency before he passed the bowl gently off towards Lea.

Reaching for the long spoon, Lea licked his lips and stuck his tongue out to the side, his face contorting into a focused expression, one that made both Roxas and Cloud chuckle softly to themselves. With Lea making himself useful, Roxas went around to collect the plates and silverware from the cupboards. Naturally, he grabbed four plates but seeing as how Axel was apparently joining them for breakfast—he hesitated on reaching for an extra dish. Glancing briefly over his shoulder, Roxas could see that Leon was annoyed for some reason or another and it didn't take a genius to figure out why since Axel was grinning from ear to ear. No matter what time it was, whether it was during that day or at night—the redhead never failed to make a nuisance out of himself and Roxas was pretty close to wishing that Leon would hit his breaking point already so that they wouldn't have to tolerate his boss at the dining table so early in the morning.

After shaking his head, Roxas sighed heavily, his hand finally reaching out to grab one more plate. The added weight in his arms felt unusual—foreign really and he found himself feeling suddenly nervous now as he began to set the table. In the background, he could hear Cloud at the stove cooking the eggs and sausages, the oil in the pan sizzling and popping constantly. The sounds grew louder as he imagined Cloud scrambling the eggs and for whatever reason, it began to form a buzzing noise in his ears combined with the other numerous ambient sounds around him that annoyingly penetrated his skull and made his brain throb.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Roxas didn't realize that his body was swaying, almost ready to fall but just as he felt his knees begin to buckle, he was caught just in time by a pair of strong arms.

"Roxy, are you okay?" Axel asked worriedly.

Turning to look over his shoulder at the concerned redhead, Roxas' vision blurred in and out for a moment. He felt dazed, just like two days ago when he tripped on the stairs—and just like that time, Axel was there to catch him before he fell. When blue eyes met soft green eyes, Roxas felt as though he'd been caught in a net again with almost no way of escaping. This was what he saw—what made his heart skip a beat and rethink the impression he had about the redhead. And this was what scared him the most and made him overthink and ponder over unnecessary things.

Unconsciously, Axel leaned forward, his breath caressing across Roxas face. It smelled strongly of booze and cigarettes from the night before and the morning breath was just an added bonus. The scent made Roxas scrunch his nose a little and who could blame him for feeling disgusted and uncomfortable by how close the foul smell was to his face? By then, the stench helped to clear the blondes mind a little, giving him a good wakeup call and seeing the position he was in with Axel's arms on him made Roxas freeze in place.

Axel's comprehension was slow at first, but it slowly registered in his brain that Roxas' reaction was all too similar to the first time they were together like this as the blond paled and pressed himself to the edge of the table out of shock.

"Roxy?" Axel arched a brow.

"Wha-What are you doing over here?" Roxas stuttered, panic obvious in his voice. It looked like he was trying desperately to put a large amount of distance between himself and his boss but with how small the room they were in was—it was impossible.

"Well you looked like you were about to fall and I—," Axel tried to explain but before he could he was dragged out of the kitchen and back towards the living room by Leon.

"Please, stop giving my brother in-law a heart attack. At the rate you're going at, he may become a paranoid schizophrenic because of you in due time." Leon said flatly.

"But he almost fell and—"

Leon shoved an open hand in the redhead's face, thus stopping him from finishing his sentence completely. "Just stop, be quiet, don't say a word and sit here until breakfast is ready."

"Fine." The redhead grumbled.

Even though Leon was doing a good job at playing dumb—he didn't miss the way Axel rushed over to Roxas. He even saw the way the blond looked at him—blue eyes that were confused at first but he watched how they glimmered and shined with hope and admiration. Cloud was just the same; it was a Strife thing after all and as the saying goes, eyes are the window into the soul and both of the brothers were perfect examples to that proverb.

Watching his brother in-law busy himself with something in the kitchen, Leon turned towards the redhead still grumbling on the couch. The two men probably weren't even aware of their own actions but as far as Leon knew—things were going to get interesting from what he could see.

"Foods done!" Cloud hollered.

Slowly rising from his place on the sofa, Axel trudged right behind Leon who immediately took his place at the head of table with Cloud on his right side. He noticed Roxas sit down on the brunet's left and eying the seat next to his blond haired assistant, he went to try and take a seat but unfortunately was stopped by Lea.

Giving the older redhead a toothy grin, Lea reached for his hand and tugged lightly on his fingers. "Sit next to me! Sit next to me!" he said excitedly.

It wasn't a request, more of a demand than anything else and Axel couldn't find it in his heart to say no to him. Nodding slowly, he let Lea navigate him to the chair over and watched silently as the little redhead plopped himself into the chair right in between him and Roxas. For some reason, he felt his heart pound uncomfortably—it wasn't sickening but it hurt him inside nonetheless.

The family filled their plates up, Axel did the same but while everyone conversed he let himself take a step back to watch Roxas in his natural environment outside of the office. It was strange, seeing Roxas baby Lea the way he did but at the same time he admired how very attentive he was—how happy and carefree he looked in the child's presence. It was like seeing him under a new light and even though he was sure he wouldn't admit it, Axel found Roxas' nature as a father more attractive than his good looks.

For a while, all Axel did was eat and stare at Roxas and Lea. He didn't even notice how much he was smiling and it wasn't until his eyes made contact with Roxas' that he stopped and accidentally choked on the bits of sausage in his mouth.

"Hey Mr. are you alright?" Lea tilted his head with a frown.

Gulping down a glass of water, Axel nodded his head and coughed a little. "I-I'm fine! Don't worry about it!" he said with a grin.

Seeing the sudden smile on the older redhead's face made Lea giggle. "Mr. I wanted to ask, how did you get so tall?"

"Well…" Axel bit his bottom lip, contemplating a little before he looked over to Roxas for guidance. He watched how the blond glared at him and instantly he knew that misbehaving in front of the blonde's son was out of the question. "Vegetables! I ate lots of vegetables as a kid and it helped me grow up big and strong!"

"Vegetables?" Lea stuck his tongue out in disgust and shivered.

"Hey, a nice big salad with steak and potatoes is the best. You get a good amount of the three main food groups that way and in time, you'll grow tall and you'll be strong."

Hearing this, Lea's eyes grew and he quickly turned towards Roxas with hope glowing in his green eyes. "Daddy! Can you make me steak, potatoes and salad?"

"Uhh—" Roxas nearly dropped his fork. Blinking, he saw the way his son grinned and he chuckled softly at him. "Sure, why not?"

"Yes!" Lea fist pumped clumsily into the air while jumping excitedly in his seat. Unfortunately, his movement was so sudden that he didn't realize that he'd lost his balance until both Roxas and Axel went to steady him and keep him from falling out of his chair.

Seeing Axel's hand rest on top of his own against Lea's back, Roxas swallowed nervously as both he and the redhead looked at each other with unreadable expressions. For him, it was a natural instinct to protect Lea but seeing as how instant his superior's reaction was to catching Lea from falling, it just about caught the blond off guard more than it should have. He wanted to retract his hand and press it against his chest because everything was suddenly throbbing—or more specifically, it was his heart that was pounding. Roxas couldn't think of an explanation for the complex feelings he was feeling inside all of a sudden and he didn't know how to relieve the stress or the feel of his face flaming up either. It was embarrassing to say the least, and just as he was about to pull his hand away out from under Axel's light touch, he was stopped when the redhead suddenly gripped his hand and refused to let go. It made Roxas gasp softly and even Axel himself was shocked by his own actions.

Both Leon and Cloud watched silently at the strange exchange between boss and subordinate. They didn't do anything of course, and even though they had a few inappropriate comments in mind to voice out, they found it more entertaining to watch how the scene would unfold since Roxas was a natural comedian—he just didn't know it.

Lea didn't understand why his father and the stranger stopped talking all of a sudden. Looking back and forth between the two men, he cocked his head to the side and frowned; obviously not liking how he was being ignored. The longer the two stared, the more impatient the little redhead grew so to gain the two adults attention, Lea puffed out his cheeks before screaming his lungs out a little.

"Daddy!"

The little redhead's outburst served to make the pair instantly disconnect. Still blushing furiously, Roxas composed himself as best he could and Axel did the same.

"I-I'm sorry, uh—Lea?"

"After breakfast can we go to the park?" Lea pouted, his arms crossed tightly against his chest; making it clear that he was still displeased by having been snubbed for a little too long by his parent.

"Sure, we'll need to stop by the grocery store anyways so—"

"I want Mr. to come too!" Lea quickly added and that took both Roxas and Axel by surprise though Cloud and Leon chuckled at the remark.

"Lea! Um, well Axel might be busy today, you don't want to bother him—," Nevertheless, Lea was quick to turn his attention away from the blond and that just about broke his father's already frail heart as his jaw dropped.

"Mr. will you please come to the park with daddy and me?"

"Wha—Uhh…" Not knowing what to say, Axel looked around at the other men but all three were at a loss for words themselves—Roxas didn't even bother to look at him in the eye, leaving Axel to make a decision without taking any of their opinions into consideration. Still, looking down at the kid, it was really hard to say no and he had to give props to Roxas for raising such an adorable little thing. Leon was right though, that much he had to admit because Lea really did have Roxas wrapped around his finger and at the rate he was becoming smitten by the little redhead, it wouldn't surprise him if Lea eventually had him coiled tightly around a finger too.

Having made up his mind in the last fifty seconds, the first thing that Axel did was establish a proper introduction. "Okay, before I say yes let's make one thing clear."

"What? What is it?"

"My name is Axel Trenton—not Mr. not hey or you, it's Axel. A-X-E-L—Axel, got it memorized?" Axel said with a smile as he tapped his right index finger against Lea's forehead.

"A-Axel." Lea blinked before smiling back at him and again he bounced up and down in his seat with excitement. "Yeah! I got it memorized!"

"Good, and you better not forget it, Lea." Axel replied, his hand reaching out to ruffle the other's short spikes of bright red hair.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story they belong respectfully to Square Enix.
> 
> Music: "Oh! My Goddess" by TRAX
> 
> A/N: I hope everyone had a wonderful Father's Day! Since this is a family oriented story, I thought it was appropriate to try and finish up the chapter and post it on the day that we should all be appreciating our beloved father's (: Well, now it's the day after but I tried ^^; shame on me for being slow. I hope everyone had an amazing day, I know I did since I just stayed home and cooked and cleaned ALL DAY for my daddy (our family doesn't like to go out much sometimes but it's okay! Simplicity is how we roll!).
> 
> Anyways, here you are my wonderful readers! And again, Happy Belated Father's Day! :'D and for this story, Happy Father's Day Roxas! And Axel *cough, cough*

  
o0o0o0o  


"Daddy, hurry up!" Lea tugged roughly on the blonde's hand. Pulling him along, the little redhead quite literally dragged his father with all of his might as they walked towards the park just around the block from their apartment.

Behind them, Axel trailed closely. He chuckled at the display, enjoying the light hearted view as Lea continued to badger Roxas about being too slow. Axel could see that his assistant was doing it on purpose though and the more the blonde's son whined, the more Roxas began to laugh and fall back on his heels, thus forcing poor Lea to resort to yanking even harder on his arm. Watching the blond plant his feet firmly onto the ground, Axel paused just a few steps behind him. The look on Lea's face was priceless, his big green eyes growing even wider as his pouty lips trembled and brow furrowed with frustration. Axel almost thought he was about to cry but in that instant, Roxas swooped down only to capture Lea and haul him up into his arms with a giant swing.

"Daddy!" Lea whined through his giggling. "Put me down!"

Twirling him in the air a few times, Roxas threw the little redhead over his shoulder and laughed alongside him. "Now why would I do that? You should know that it's much faster if I just carry you to the park instead of having you drag me."

"Or," Axel added, walking over to the pair, he grasped Lea by the waist. Lifting him up carefully from his assistant's shoulder, he settled the little boy right behind his head as small legs dangled on either side of his shoulder blades. "I can do the carrying since I can walk much faster than you can Roxy."

"You can? Well then what are we waiting for? Start running Axel!" Lea exclaimed.

"You got it." Axel replied as he side stepped around Roxas. Jogging lightly, he left his assistant behind in the dust, laughing loudly with Lea as he heard the blond stutter loudly.

"M-Mr. Trenton! I swear if you drop my son there will be hell to pay!"

"Hey! Outside of office hours it's Axel! How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"Yeah daddy! A-X-E-L, Axel—get it memorized!"

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" The older male bellowed.

"You guys!" The blond screeched but he was promptly ignored.

Seeing how similar the two redhead's actions were, Roxas growled lightly under his breath. Despite being shorter, Roxas' height never stopped him from running any faster and within seconds he was jogging right alongside of his boss without any trouble; even if he had to take multiple strides in comparison to Axel. Making a mental note to scold Lea later, Roxas' pace quickened until he managed to get a few steps ahead of the pair. At that moment, he then turned on his heel and stopped right in front of the older man which forced him to come to a sudden halt as well.

Glaring up at both redheads, Roxas stomped right up to his superior only to yank him down to his level by the ear. "If you install anymore of your awful habits into my son, you've got another thing coming, sir."

Feeling his mouth fall open in both pain and shock from having been assaulted, Axel nodded his head without arguing as he let out a silent scream.

"Good." Roxas grinned, his fingers giving him one last pinch before he finally released the redhead's ear.

"Y-yeah." He gulped, feeling the slight pain throb in his lower earlobe but unfortunately he had no hands to rub and ease the sting.

"The park?" Roxas pointed towards the entrance. Watching the two boys blink at his change in attitude, he shook his head and rolled his eyes at them.

"Daddy sure is scary isn't he?" Lea commented.

"Yup, and I work with him." Axel grimaced.

"But I live with him."

"Yeah, but he loves you so that's completely different whereas I'm abused on a daily basis at work."

"Ouch, well that sucks for you doesn't it?"

"Well, actually…" Axel frowned. In reality, it wasn't necessarily an awful experience working with Roxas, if anything he rather enjoyed it. Taking the time to think about it, Axel made a quick list of things that he liked about working with the blond haired male. For one thing, he got his work done on time, he had someone to bully and poke fun at in the room (despite the aggressive retaliation), he wasn't lonely and on some days he actually looked forward to going to work because knowing that Roxas would be there to keep him company was enough of a reason for him to get out of bed every weekday.

"Axel? Hello, Axel?" Lea waved his hand in front of the other's face.

"What? Yes? I'm sorry, what were we talking about?" Axel blinked.

"We were talking about my daddy before you blanked out on me."

"Oh, oh yeah! Right!" The redhead grinned, trying to clear up the awkwardness in the air. "I don't think it sucks working with your dad—he's actually really cool."

Lea looked at him in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah! He's awesome."

"But you just said that my daddy abuses you at work."

"He only does it because that's what apparently motivates me to get things down. Guess you can say that I'm a masochist that way." Realizing what he just said, Axel instantly regretted it.

"Maso—masokiss?" Lea asked. "What's a massokiss?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all!" He replied quickly.

"No, way! You've gotta tell me what a massokiss is Axel!"

Glancing over his shoulder, Roxas glared intensely at him. The blonde's cold stare was fierce, warning Axel to tread carefully. It literally made his entire skeleton shake with dread and he swallowed nervously and tried to laugh it off.

"When you're… How old are you again?"

"I'm four!" Lea waved up four of his little finger's in Axel's face.

Axel chuckled softly at him and giving his assistant a wink, he smirked lightly. "Okay, when you're sixteen years old, I'll tell you what a masochist is."

"Sixteen? But that's so far away!" He whined. "Why can't I know now?" He kicked his legs the redhead's chest in a demanding manner, making Roxas snicker as Axel coughed from the impact.

"B-Because, it's a big person's word," He wheezed. "And it won't be too long. Just think of it this way, like getting taller! You won't realize it until you stop and notice that you're suddenly taller than your dad one day!"

"I'll be taller than my dad?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, look at him, he's short so I'm pretty sure by the time you're fourteen you'll be towering over him." Axel laughed lightly.

"Yeah, he is kind of short—definitely shorter than Uncle Cloud and Uncle Leon." The little redhead commented with a giggle.

It was too bad that their laughter was cut short by the sound of a foot tapping impatiently against the pavement. Looking up at the cause of the belligerent movement, they found Roxas with his arms crossed tightly against his chest as he seethed at them.

Having heard every little word of the short conversation being made about his height, the blond felt that it was only right to make the two redheads pay for poking fun at his stature. Honestly, everyone around him should have known by now that to make a comment about his height, only meant trouble in more ways than one.

"Uh-oh." They both said.

"Uh-oh is right." Roxas glared before he pointed at a nearby bike rack. "Time out, both of you."

"Aw but daddy—"

"Roxy—"

"Time out!" He repeated; his voice firm and intimidating to the extent that both redheads' saw no way around his punishment as they shivered in place from fear of arousing even more retribution from the glaring blond.

Sighing, the pair glanced at each other briefly before Axel carefully placed Lea back down on the ground next to him.

"This is so not cool." Lea pouted.

"You're telling me," Axel frowned. "And why do I have to be put in time out? Aren't I a little too old to be punished like this?" He asked.

"Lea, to the bench and you," Roxas pointed at his boss. "To the bike rack."

"But—"

"Now!"

"I'm your boss!"

"And I'm your assistance who does eighty percent of your workload!"

"Argh! Fine!"

With a short huff, Axel finally sighed in defeat with his head hung low. Lea's reaction to getting punished so suddenly was no better and the two trudged over towards their respected destinations of punishment. Seeing the redhead drag his feet in despair, Roxas gave himself a nod of satisfaction and smirked.

"Five minutes you two." He said. "And that outta teach you guys not to make fun of me either." He added.

Hearing this, Axel looked back over his shoulder at his subordinate and stuck his tongue out at him in an effort to spite him. And unfortunately for the blond, he fell for the immature tactic. With how childish the redhead was acting, it came as a surprise to Roxas that he would react so immediately and turn his back to him with a fierce blush on his face. Then again, he was being no different himself but he wasn't about to admit his juvenile behavior to the other male, even if it was obvious.

Leaning his lower back against the bike racks, Axel shoved his hands into his pockets and began to take in his surroundings. It was a simple park from what he could see; nothing like the modern designs found in downtown but he appreciated the outdated architecture, with its steel bars, metal slide and peeling paint. The place also reminded him of his childhood and seeing Lea sitting on the bench with a scold next to Roxas, it made him smile since the little kid had an inkling similarity to his own attitude as a kid.

Thinking back to his childhood, Axel set his eyes on the pouting little redhead again. Chuckling to himself, he couldn't help but feel an instant attachment to him despite just meeting him only a few hours ago. It was like a natural pull, almost magnetic and he didn't know how to really explain it other than he felt that it was instinct. From what he could remember from Demyx's outburst, the kid was Roxas' adoptive son so it was more than evident that they didn't share a single hint of physical similarities. But why, why did he and Lea look so much alike he had to wonder. It was frightening.

Questioning this, Axel looked down at his feet with a frown. Red hair and green eyes; they were practically the same shade as his. And the hair style that Lea sported was almost identical to the one he had as a kid or whenever he chose to give his red locks a trim every now and again. It was just bizarre and the longer he dwelled on the matter, the more he found it difficult to breathe around him. Could it be possible he wondered?

From the other side of the playground, Roxas looked up to give his superior a short glance. He had a strange feeling inside of him; one that made him feel very nervous if not insecure all of a sudden the longer he sat and stared at Axel's silent form in the distance. It was very hard for him to swallow and a part of him didn't want to accept the ambiguous fear that shimmered deep within his heart. It almost made him nauseous.

It was just a coincidence, he remembered telling himself the first time he met Axel but now he didn't feel so sure anymore. With how things were suddenly lining up, it almost felt like fate was trying to mess with him somehow and in doing so, it hurt him. He almost didn't want to think about it, but it was really hard not to when the causes of his abnormal bout of anxiety were right in front of him and they refused to settle down. Not even close—it was more like the longer he remained in Axel and Lea's presence; with all three of them together, the more his mind became frantic.

Not realizing that he was frowning, Lea tilted his head and scooted closer to the blond. Laying his head down on his lap, he hummed softly and waited until his father finally looked down at him.

"Daddy?"

"Yes Lea?"

"Why do you look upset?"

Roxas stared at him, his eyes widening for a split second. "Upset? Do I look upset to you?" He asked with a soft chuckle.

Lea nodded his head, which made Roxas somewhat speechless by how blunt he was being. Still, he appreciated his son's honesty and just shook his head with a smile. Children were innocent he surmised, especially when they were as young as Lea. He liked how real they were, how they saw the world with open eyes. They were nothing like adults, like him who saw the twistedness and had the ability to deceive and lie after growing up. It almost made him sad that in due time, Lea would no longer be who he was right now—he'd be just like every other grown up. Maybe…

"Why do you think I look upset Lea?"

"Because, when I saw you looking at Axel—you frowned." He pointed out before fear flashed across his face in the next moment. "Are you mad at him? He didn't do anything wrong, we were just joking!" He insisted, suddenly throwing his arms around the blonde's waist.

Roxas gasped lightly as Lea buried his face into his stomach. Wrapping his arms around the small child, he nuzzled his face into the short locks of red hair. "I'm not mad at Axel." He said softly.

"Then why do you look upset? Like you're about to break?" Lea mumbled into Roxas' shirt, his face still hidden from view.

"It's hard to explain Lea." Roxas replied; his hand rubbing circles into the little redhead's back.

"But it's because of Axel isn't it?" Lea began to sniffle.

"A-A little bit."

"But why? He didn't do anything." He said again.

"No, he didn't but I'm still wary."

Lea lifted his face up slowly. "Wary? Like worried?"

"Um, something like that." Roxas laughed sadly.

"But what would you be worried about daddy?" Lea pleaded. He wanted to know.

The look of sadness was apparent in his son's big green eyes. It was touching how concerned that he was for him but at the same time it just broke his heart. He was supposed to be stronger than this he told himself, he was supposed to be strong for Lea, for the both of them but it was hard.

"When you're older, I'll tell you." Roxas smiled but Lea could tell that his calm expression contradicted the raging turmoil he felt inside.

"I don't want to wait until I'm older, please tell me now!" He demanded.

"Lea, it isn't the best—"

"No!" He whined, the wailing in his voice finally snapping Axel out of his trance.

Seeing how distressed the little boy looked, Axel felt that he'd spent enough time sitting around on his side of the playground and began marching over to the bench.

"Hey, what's going on over here?" Axel asked, his eyes moving back and forth between his assistant and Lea.

Puffing out his cheeks, Lea felt small tears collect at the corners of his eyes. Not wanting to sit around and cry in front of the two grown men, he hurriedly jumped off of the bench and ran towards the play structure without a single word.

"Lea!" Roxas cried but his son refused to look back and instead climbed up the steps to the highest point of the playground where he could cry in peace.

Seeing how suddenly rebellious Lea was being, Axel frowned and settled his gaze on the shorter male. "So, are you going to tell me what happened?"

Roxas heaved a heavy sigh and buried his face into his hands. "Why do you care?" He mumbled almost incoherently but Axel managed to catch every word.

His frown deepened. "Well I—I care about you…" He replied hesitantly, his mind reeling on the meaning behind his words and how they worked in conjunction with the complexity of his feelings.

Roxas' blue eyes widened and by the time he realized it, he was too late to stop himself from looking up at his superior.

The two of them remained silent, uncertain of what to say next. Seeing how confused and frantic Roxas' eye's kept burning into him—as if searching for the truth, Axel finally went and sat down next to him; causing the blond jump in his seat.

"Roxas, I care about you." He said again, his voice still unsure as he searched for the right words to say. "But at the same time, I'm confused. We've been working together for over a year and during that time, I knew close to nothing about you other than what I saw at the office..." Axel paused. He was losing his train of thought and it was hard to concentrate as his mind spiraled between his muddled feelings and of all things, Lea. Biting his lip, he wondered how much regret he was going to feel for bringing the topic up but for some reason or another, he felt like it was his right to know. "I—uh…"

"Wha—what are you trying to tell me?" Roxas asked with a heavy heart. 'Just get it over with.' His mind screamed at the redhead.

"Can you tell me, a little more about Lea?" Axel changed the subject and looked down at his feet to avoid the other's gaze. He didn't want to know what expression Roxas would give him because if he did see the blonde's bright blue eyes, it'd be too hard to look away. Roxas' eyes were a weakness, they were full of emotions that were so intense that sometimes Axel felt like he could feel and experience what the blond was feeling too—it was like an invisible connection between them.

"My son? You want to know more about my son?"

"Y-yeah, is there something wrong with that?"

"No, but why?" Roxas didn't mean to sound defensive but it was hard not to when the anxiety he felt earlier returned and it was even stronger than before.

"I just want to know, I'm curious." Axel frowned. "Please?"

Roxas didn't have to tell him, he almost didn't want to but the way the redhead looked unnerved him. His superior wasn't looking at him, but from his side view, he could tell that he was yearning for the information, desperate almost and it made his breath hitch just to see Axel on the edge of defeat.

"I was twenty years old when I first found Lea." Roxas said quietly. Hearing this, Axel finally looked up at him. Now that they were looking at each other, face to face, Roxas found it suddenly hard to breathe but he continued on with his story nonetheless. "On February tenth, I was walking home from one of my night classes at RGU. I took a short cut through the park and not too long in, I heard Lea crying. It's hard to ignore a baby crying as hysterically as Lea did so I went to go investigate it out of curiosity." Pausing, Roxas cringed at the memory and looked down at his lap. His actions didn't go unnoticed to Axel and he took a deep breath to try and calm himself down. "That's when, that's when I found him abandoned in a trashcan. I don't remember ever being as sad as I was that day and after the first night I took Lea home, I knew I wanted to be the one to take care of him and give him a future—a place to call home and a family that would love him."

Axel stared ahead, his eyes locked on Lea. "Wha—what about his mother? Did you learn anything about her?" He asked as his voice shook.

"Before the adoption was official, I was told his mother's name was Larxene Blair. They tried looking for her, but it was like she dropped off the face of the earth until two years ago she finally turned up dead in Hollow Bastion. According to the news reports months later, she'd been involved with a married man, some guy named Marluxia and after his wife found out—well you can guess what happened afterwards."

Looking up at his superior, Roxas was thoroughly shocked by the redhead's countenance. It looked like he was seeing a ghost or was experiencing an anxiety attack from the way his chest fall and rose rapidly and in that moment, it frightened him immensely.

"L-larxene Blair you say?"

"Y—yeah, do you know her?" Roxas asked slowly, feeling even more scared for the answer to come.

"I did, at one point." Axel admitted; his eyes still wide from shock. "She was—we were…" He couldn't even finish his sentence as he choked back a pained sob and that's when it all fell into place.

The redhead's broken confession was all it took for Roxas to stand up abruptly from his spot on the bench, his blue eyes filled with fear as he stared down at his employer. Turning towards Lea for a moment, he stared at the little boy's form and could see that his son had been watching them the entire time. He was grateful that the distance proved too far for him to hear their conversation but the fear was still the same and it only grew with each second that passed. Casting his gaze back down at Axel, their eyes and it was all the blond needed to know before he staggered forward and took off running towards the playground.

It could hardly be considered running actually, more like sprinting as Roxas scrambled up onto the play structure. Lea was very confused by the two men after having watched them for quite some time and was even more surprised when his father came right up to him and hugged him tightly, almost squeezing the breath right out of him.

"D—daddy?" Lea slowly hugged him back.

"Lea, I love you…" Roxas said shakily.

Hearing his voice, Lea grew worried and instantly he clung to the older man's coat. "Daddy what's wrong? Are you crying?"

"Lea, I love you." He said again. "Thank you for letting me raise you, for letting me be your dad…" He began to sob.

Feeling himself begin to cry again as well, Lea buried his face into the blonde's shoulder. "Daddy what are you saying all of a sudden? Why does it sound like you're leaving me?"

"No, no." He choked. "I'll never leave you Lea."

"Then don't talk like that…" He whimpered. "Don't—please don't ever leave me! I love you too daddy!" Lea cried out suddenly and it was then that both father and son began to cry tearfully.

Still sitting on the bench, Axel watched the entire scene unfold between Roxas and Lea through tear filled eyes. All this time, his missing child had been hiding right from under his nose. They'd been so close and yet, listening to his son beg Roxas not to leave him—he was still so far away and hardly within reach.

"How did it turn out like this?" He murmured. Lifting himself back up on wobbly legs, he staggered forward, not bothering to give a shout to his assistant as he made his way towards the exit.

  
o0o0o0o  


When Roxas looked back up again, Axel was gone. It made him panic and he regretted acting out on his emotions but he was scared—still scared to lose Lea if it came down to it. Seeing how gloomy the day took a turn for with the revelation hanging over his head, he took Lea home in silence and began wondering what his and Axel's next plan of action would be.

"Hey, you're back early." Cloud said as his younger brother entered through the front door of the apartment with an exhausted Lea hanging in his arms. Noticing the way the little redhead clung tightly to his father, Cloud began to worry even if it didn't show on his face. "Did something happen?"

Taking off his shoes, Roxas walked passed him and headed straight towards the living room where Leon sat on the couch. Placing Lea next to the older man, he kissed the boy's hairline and then returned to his brother's side. Grasping Cloud's wrist, he led them to his bedroom and closed the door behind him.

Alone and safe in the privacy of his brother's room, Cloud went over to sit on the bed. "Roxas, mind telling me what's on your mind?" He asked, his eyes growing harder the longer he stared at the younger blonde's face. The rims of his blue eyes were red from crying and there were still streaks left behind from the tears he shed earlier. Cloud didn't want to assume what happened, so he waited as patiently as possible for him to fess up.

"Cloud…" Roxas' voice trembled. "Axel, he's—he's Lea's biological father."

The younger male's words didn't come as too much of a surprise to him, but he didn't have the heart to criticize him either so instead he got back up and brought his baby brother against his chest into a tight embrace.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story they belong respectfully to Square Enix.
> 
> Music: "Dance Inside" by All American Rejects & "Fireworks" by Katy Perry

  
o0o0o0o  


The news of Axel and Lea's connection to each other as father and son was as fresh as ever in Roxas' mind the moment he woke up the very next day. When he looked at his little four year old, all he could see was Axel; from the red spiky hair to the green of his eyes, the older redhead was all he could see. Now that he was taking extra time to look at Lea, Roxas reluctantly accepted that the boy was virtually a spitting image of his superior in almost every way—minus his personality but he was sure that in time that would be subjected to change in the next few years. He could only hope that it would change for the better and not mirror his boss's attitude because if Lea indeed became another Axel, Roxas wouldn't know what to do.

While sitting on the couch next to Cloud, Roxas belittled himself over and over again for having rejected the similarities shared between Axel and Lea when he had first laid eyes on the vice president. It shouldn't take a genius to figure out how alike the older redhead and Lea were to indicate that they were in essence, related but being the skeptical individual that he was, Roxas had pushed those thoughts away and played the heartless game of ignorance. But now that the cat was out of the bag, he realized that deep down, he believed in Axel's claim wholeheartedly, even though it still made his heart clench tightly all the same.

The world that took him four years to create was now crumbling around him and he didn't know what to do in order to find a mental state of stability again. The revelation, quite literally shook him to the core.

Lea felt no different from his adoptive father either. Though he still carried a hint of attitude in his actions, there was less excitement in his eyes, almost like he was trying too hard to act like nothing strange had happened just the other day. Everyone could see the lack of luster in the boy's usually vibrant emerald green orbs and it took a rather big bowl of sea-salt ice cream to cure him of the unusual rain cloud that hung above his head.

"Do you know what you're going to do?" Cloud asked while Leon kept Lea occupied at the dining table.

"What do you mean?" Roxas murmured tiredly.

"Roxas, don't play dumb. You know exactly what I mean." The older blond pointed out. "You can't pretend like nothing happened and running away from this is impossible when your son's biological father is your boss."

The younger male swirled around and glared. "Look I just—I…" He paused. It was stupid trying to make up an excuse and the more he pondered on the words that became stuck in his throat, he realized that Cloud was right. Running away was not an option. Sighing, Roxas then glanced over towards Lea, watching the way he played with the melting ice cream in his bowl before his blue eyes fell down to his lap. "I don't know. I don't know what to do—I don't know what will happen either and that scares me."

"Even if you're afraid of the unknown, you're going to have to do something about the situation you're in eventually. You can't just sit around and wait out the storm like this. Look, I suggest you make your move before Axel does because who knows what he'll do."

"Are you implying that he'll take drastic measures?" Roxas' eyes widened.

"I don't know, maybe? It's possible and you know it."

"But he—I mean…"

Cloud gave him a hard look. "I think your best choice is to talk to him before he comes to you and chose your words carefully. I don't want you to say something that you'll later regret."

"But Cloud, what do I say? Does something like, 'Hey, I know Lea is your kid and all but can you please not take him away from me?' sound like something he might take into consideration?" Roxas grumbled a little. Just seconds after having said that, he froze in his seat, having realized that he spoke before thinking. He was definitely in deep shit now.

"Please don't tell me that, that is what you're afraid of most." Cloud stared.

"And what if it is?"

"Roxas, don't be selfish." The older blond glared at him this time.

"Selfish?" He arched a brow before slowly glaring back at his older brother.

"Yes, selfish. Whether you like it or not, Axel is Lea's biological father. You can't change that, no one can and you're being selfish by trying to keep Lea all to yourself." Cloud spat quietly. Even though he tried his best to speak in a low voice that only Roxas could to hear, Leon still turned his attention briefly towards their direction with a questionable look.

"No I'm no—"

"Roxas." He growled this time. "I know how attached you are to Lea but you know as well as I do that he'll eventually understand the circumstances that he is under. If he wants to be with Axel, there's nothing that neither you nor I can do to stop him. He deserves to at least bond with the guy and vice versa for Axel as well."

"I know!"

"Then stop dilly dallying around and do what you know for a fact is the right thing!" Cloud exclaimed this time.

The sound of Lea's spoon falling into his bowl caught everyone off guard. Seeing the frightened look on his face, Cloud instantly regretted raising his voice and shrunk into his seat next to Roxas as his husband glared at him. Even from a distance, Roxas could tell that his son was on the verge of tears. Before the first droplets slid down his chubby cheeks, he was already up and running across the living room to the dining table in order to scoop the crying boy up into his arms.

"I know what I need to do Cloud." Roxas said as he stroked the back of Lea's head. "I understand, but I need time and I'm sure Axel needs it even more now that he is aware of Lea's existence. We both need time." He concluded.

Leon looked over at Cloud's silent form. The older Strife had already done enough damage, so it was up to him to add his two cents in; if only to rectify Cloud's outburst.

"I'd say give yourself another day, maybe even two but don't drag the situation to the point of playing ignorant again." The brunet said.

"I know that." Roxas murmured.

"But tomorrow is Monday, don't you have work?" Cloud commented quietly. "So either way, the time idea isn't really going to work."

"Must you always be a Debbie Downer?" Leon growled.

"I'm not doing it on purpose." He retorted. "And you know it's true. Which means, Roxas, you only really have today to actually recuperate."

"Damn it." Roxas said under his breath. 'Some help you are Cloud…' He seethed in his mind cursing his brother over and over for his lack of tenderness.

Lea bit his quivering lip and tried his best not to cry hysterically into Roxas' shirt. He was going to be five pretty soon and after that he'd start his first year at an elementary school as a kindergartener in September. He was on his way to being a big kid, and at preschool Isa always told him that big kids didn't cry! Fortunately, he was still four years old so as long as he didn't tell Isa, he figured that it was okay to cry as much as he wanted. He just had to control it that was all.

"Daddy?"

"Hm?"

"You've been saying a lot of bad words lately."

"Uh—Well…"

"But, it's okay." Lea clung to his shirt, gripping the fabric tightly in his hands. "You're bothered by something and it makes you sad, so I understand."

"Lea." Roxas' eyes flickered downwards.

"Daddy, I'll be brave tomorrow at preschool. Even if I cried a lot yesterday and a little bit today, I won't cry tomorrow even if I'm still feeling sad, so you should be brave too!" Lea said loudly as he sniffled this time and hid his face back into the blonde's shirt.

"Lea…" Roxas froze.

"It looks like Lea is trying to tell you to face your fears." Leon remarked, his hand reaching out to give the little redhead a few pats on the head.

"Really? Is that what you're trying to tell me?" Roxas asked. Kissing the boy's hairline, he felt the four year old give a nod and chuckled softly. "Okay, I'll be brave—we'll both be brave together."

  
o0o0o0o  


Even if he promised Lea that he would be brave, Roxas still had great difficulty in shaking off his fears the moment he stepped into the building the next morning. His heart raced faster and faster the closer he got to the office he shared with Axel, however when he was greeted by the sight of an empty room, all of his thoughts dissipated and he didn't know what to say. The place had been left untouched from what he could see and it looked the same since he and Axel left it last Friday.

Upon closer inspection though, Roxas arrived at his desk to find a short note that read 'Out for the week, you know what to do. – Axel'. And in that instant, the blonde's fear became dust in the wind and was quickly replaced by anger—indescribable anger that left him fuming as he crumbled the note in his hand and growled.

"What the hell does he mean by 'you know what to do'?!" He exclaimed. Throwing the balled up note onto the ground, he stomped on the paper three times until it was flattened out and soiled from the dirt under the sole of his shoes. "Stupid boss! Stupid! Stupid! What does he want from me? Does he want me to resign? Or does he expect me to do a week's worth of paperwork all by myself? If that's the case, he's got another thing coming! Argh! And I thought I was being a chicken! He—he! Axel you coward!"

Slamming his suitcase rather violently against his desk, Roxas continued to growl. "What does that guy think he's doing?!" And the blond continued to spit out one insult after another until he couldn't even understand what he was saying.

Sighing aloud, Roxas walked around and dropped himself into his chair, his eyes flickering upwards towards the ceiling. He was going to be alone at the office for the entirety of the week. There would be no Axel around to sexually harass him, no Axel to annoy the living daylights out of him and no Axel to smirk or give him good mornings and goodbyes. Alone… He was going to be alone and for some reason, the thought of being without his redheaded boss didn't sit well with the blond as he sank down further into his seat.

Roxas didn't know how he managed to stomach the first few hours of work by himself. On his way out to lunch to pick up Lea, it was another miracle, only because his usually enthusiastic four year old was back to his old self after apparently clinging to his friend Isa for the majority of his time at preschool. But after taking Lea home and leaving him with a babysitter, Roxas' mood fell again once he returned to the empty office and he continued his work that day with a heavy heart.

He hated to admit it, but without Axel around, the office was lifeless and void. Sure, there had been days where Roxas complained about the vice president's obnoxious advances on him and his inability to stay focused on his work without doing at least one thing to irk the blond to the point of violence but today, Roxas had come to realize how far the older man had embedded himself into the normalcy of his daily life.

It was odd that it took him this long to figure out just how attached he was to Axel. He'd always been indifferent and only ever criticized when the subject of his boss and work was ever brought up. Sometimes, Roxas would just complain for hours on end about how much he disliked the redhead but was that really true? Did he honestly hate Axel? He pondered the question, asking himself over and over again but he came up with nothing. He didn't hate him, nor disliked him. He tolerated him and Axel, surprising took to his attitude quickly and did the same. But then again, even his tolerance for the vice president had been changing as of recently. Roxas didn't want to make any drastic assumptions but he knew that their working relationship had indeed became something more, even before it was learned that Lea was Axel's biological son.

What was it though? What was Axel to him now?

  
o0o0o0o  


Day two was hardly bearable and now that he was onto day three without Axel, Roxas felt like he was drowning from the emptiness that resided in the office. He missed him, he missed his stupid boss more than he thought. Cloud had been useless in trying to comfort him and Leon—well he was a completely different story. Which was why Roxas had practically begged his dear old cousin/coworker to go out with him straight after they wrapped up their shifts.

"Roxas, you look like you've seen better days." Demyx said once they settled down into a booth together with their trays of food.

"I had an awful weekend Dem, okay…" Roxas replied dejectedly and it perked his cousin's interest.

Sure, Demyx felt aware of Roxas' productivity at work slowing down all of a sudden but he didn't know why. Maybe today would be the day that Roxas would finally tell him he wondered. He really hoped so.

"Do you want to talk about it? I mean, that is why we're hanging out at Moogle's after work, right?"

"Yeah pretty much. I've just had enough of Cloud's comfort for a while, y'know what I mean?" Roxas replied as he stared down at his burger and fries. He hadn't touched his meal since picking it up unlike Demyx who was literally digging into his. Glancing over at the little take out bag beside his tray, he felt wretched that he was eating fast food for dinner instead of enjoying a hearty meal at home with Lea. Hopefully the kids meal would be enough of a peace offering for him. Still, Roxas needed this time to find answers to the inner turmoil he was suffering from and Demyx was usually the best at giving him comfort, more so than anyone else he was close to aside from Sora.

"Okay then." Demyx dipped a French fry into a small cup of honey mustard before popping it in his mouth. "Sooo…" He chewed. "What's up? Tell your dear old cousin what's been bugging ya!"

"Axel." Roxas said without really thinking.

Hearing the redhead's name spill from the younger blonde's lips, Demyx slammed his hand down onto the surface of the table and glared. "Did he harass you again? Oh I'm gonna—"

"He's Lea's biological father."

"And then tie his hands behind his back and—what? What did you say?" He stopped suddenly. Blinking, he felt his mouth begin to fall open.

"Axel is Lea's biological father."

"What!" Demyx said loudly, nearly throwing himself over the table separating them. Grabbing his cousin by the front of his shirt, his sea blue eyes were literally bugging out from the shock.

"Dem, do I need to spell it out for you!?" Roxas exclaimed before shoving the other blond back down in his seat. Dusting himself off, he went back to his earlier countenance and began poking at his food.

"Are you sure? Did you do those DNA tests or something?"

"No."

"Then how can you be sure that Axel really is Lea's biological father?!"

"Dem are you that dense?" Roxas hissed, his blue eyes narrowing as he tried to keep himself under control. "Just put them together in the same room and then it'll be as clear as day!"

"Come on, don't tell me you weren't bouncing off the walls from the shock either! My reaction is quite acceptable! So there's no need to lecture me a little!" He shot back and crossed his arms against his chest.

"I'm not saying it wasn't—" Roxas began to growl but he stopped once his cousin's face hardened. He was getting serious now.

"Still, you were dense too weren't you?" Demyx asked, his question causing Roxas to stiffen a little. "I remember mentioning to you how similar they looked the first time you saw Axel and you're giving me the same reaction you did back then."

"Am I?"

"Yeah. Now, explain to me how exactly Axel is Lea's biological father?" Demyx pouted. "Because seriously, I need to know these things. He's both our boss after all. "

Roxas sighed. "It hasn't been scientifically proven, however last Friday when I went out for drinks with Axel we got into a spit and he ended up coming over to my apartment the same night to apologize. It didn't work out though and Cloud knocked him out easy when he tried to assault me so we put him on the couch for the rest of the night."

"Hold it!" Demyx pointed, his brow twitching as his eyes grew wide again. "Axel assaulted you?!"

"Demyx I'm trying to explain something to you, don't interrupt me."

He waved his hands back and forth in an apologetic manner. "Sorry, sorry! Please continue!"

Roxas gave him a short look of skepticism but he easily brushed it off. It was just Demyx being Demyx after all. "Anyways, he met Lea the next morning and then after breakfast and cleaning up a little we went to the park together, Lea, Axel and I. The two of them just…" He paused, unable to stop himself from chuckling at the memory. "Those two together are like the dynamic duo and boy did they piss me off..."

Demyx saw the way the younger blond smiled in a reminiscent-like manner. For a second he recognized that Roxas was happy but just as soon as it appeared the emotion was wiped clean from his face just as fast. What was this he wondered?

"Let's just say that I put them in time out, other things happened and that's when Axel came around to asking me some questions and everything just spilled out."

"Spilled out how?" He asked.

"Everything—well mostly how I found Lea, the story of his biological mom being found dead and then Axel said that he knew her. He didn't get around to confirming that they'd been together but you should have seen the look on his face…" Roxas said brokenly. "I was so shocked but I knew instantly that Axel was Lea's real dad. He didn't have to explain anything to me because the truth was written all over this face… and he was crying, I saw him crying Dem…"

"Whoa…" Demyx stared. "This is a lot to have happened in one weekend."

"Yeah, it was. I'm still wondering how the hell I'm functioning right now after all of the drama…"

"How do you feel though? How do you feel running into Lea's real dad and knowing that it'd been Axel all along?" The other blonde's eyes softened some and Roxas felt his heart pound.

"Miserable." He said, his blue eyes falling down to his lap. No, miserable was the wrong word. It wasn't it at all he told himself, his head shaking back and forth. "Wait, no."

"No?" Demyx tilted his head.

"I'm scared." Roxas whispered his gaze distant looking now. "I'm scared because I don't know what will happen next. I'm scared of losing Lea and I'm scared of whatever it is that I'm feeling right now when I think of Axel."

His cousin looked worse for wear, more so than usual. There were dark circles under his usually bright, bright blue eyes and his sun kissed skin was pale and almost sickly looking. It was bad and Demyx wished he could breathe life back into him somehow.

Sliding out from his seat in the booth, Demyx got up only to put himself right next to the younger blond on his side and hug him close. "Are you afraid of him taking Lea away from you? Is that it?"

Roxas instantly fell into his cousin's arms the moment he felt the other's strong embrace. He couldn't deny that originally he was concerned about it happening, but now… well, he felt like things had gotten a little more complicated than they should have. "Yes and no…"

"Oh? Want to give me an explanation?"

"It's just, Cloud said I was being selfish for wanting to keep Lea all to myself and he's right. I played ignorant to the signs that were flashing right in front of me for the past year and after having the office to myself for the last three days I've realized that maybe it won't be that bad if I, y'know share custody of Lea with Axel after all…" He mumbled the last part. Hiding his face in the other's chest, Roxas felt the heat radiate from his face.

"You mean joint custody?" Demyx pulled himself back a little. He could see that Roxas' face was shifted downwards and it didn't take him very long to realize what was probably going on in the other's mind when he caught a hint of the younger blonde's rosy cheeks. Well this was surprising. "Um, is there something else you wanna tell?"

Roxas was sure that his cousin saw the redness blossoming on his face by now. Even if he tried to hide it, his shy attempts were too obvious and honestly he should have known that they would never work.

"Roxas?" Demyx said his name slowly and with some reluctance he looked up at the older blond.

Demyx had a clearer view of the other's expression now and he blinked at how suddenly very flushed the other looked. This was indeed a surprise. Things were definitely shifting towards a whole another level and it didn't seem wise to continue their conversation in such a crowded place. Actually their whole conversation was much too personal to be spoken out at Moogle's but damn it food was on their minds. Or at least on Demyx's.

"Hey, let's pack up and take our food to the park or something. It's a little stuffy in this place don't you think? And besides, I think the other customers would appreciate it if we took our little pow wow elsewhere." He said, getting up as he headed back to the counter to grab a few paper bags.

  
o0o0o0o  


The two escaped the fast food restaurant quickly. Roxas' face was still burning but luckily by the time they arrived at a nearby park his blush had calmed down some. During their short walk, he had tried to sort out the feelings bursting like fireworks in his mind, doing his best to understand the odd array of emotions swirling inside of him. There was just no way he should be feeling like this, so sick and heavy with… no he didn't want to say it! It was ridiculous he shook his head with a soft whine.

Demyx arched a brow at him and hummed. Finding a bench for them to sit on, he ushered Roxas towards it and quickly sat them down. Even though he had a tendency to act oblivious, it didn't necessarily mean that he was. On the contrary, he was surprisingly observant, especially when it came to close friends and family like Roxas. It was an interesting trait that he had, one that never failed to surprise his partner Zexion from time to time.

"So…" Demyx took his burger out from the bag. Lifting a part of the wrapping away to reveal a delicious and untouched side of bun, veggies and meat patty, he bit down into his sandwich and began to chew.

"So…" Roxas mimicked. Swallowing nervously he too began rummaging in his own doggy bag only to pull out a few fries.

"Am I guessing…" The older of the two swallowed down his food. "After working under Axel Trenton for over a year, his sexual advances, teasing and overall 'bad' personality that you've been complaining about over and over has finally won you over?" He asked with a short laugh.

Roxas choked on his fries before swallowing them with a rough cough. Within seconds his face was back to its previous shade of red if only ten times brighter and he dared to glance at the other blond who was staring at him with a mischievous smile.

"I'm going to take your reaction as a yes."

"N-no! That isn't—I mean!"

"Roxas." Demyx poked his cousin's forehead. "I heard from the girls working outside of your office that they haven't seen or heard from Axel since last week. They've also been gossiping about how much of a zombie you've been acting these past few days and I can only assume that being alone in that big room has you missing Axel, doesn't it?"

Damn it Demyx was good at reading him Roxas frowned and he looked down at his lap. So other people had noticed how dead he'd been feeling being all alone in the office filling out and reading paperwork and modifying the redhead's entire schedule. He wasn't exactly doing a good job at hiding his feelings like he probably should be doing during work hours but at the same time he wasn't in a particularly caring mood to be considerate enough about it.

"They do say that distance makes the heart grow fonder." Demyx mused in a sing-along kind of voice, causing Roxas to turn and glare at him in response. "Did I hit a nerve just now?" He grinned.

"Maybe…" Roxas growled this time.

"Yup, I did! But you do miss him though, don't you?" His smile softened.

"Would it be considered wrong if I said yes?" Roxas looked away, his expression both shy and embarrassed.

"No, I don't think it's wrong at all. It just means that he finally grew on you enough for you to care about him. And there's nothing wrong about caring for others." Demyx bumped their shoulders together playfully.

"Yeah but this is more than just caring about someone." Roxas clenched his fists. "I mean look at the situation that Axel and I are in. This isn't exactly normal Dem!"

"Hey, no one said life would be easy and you've run into a lot of unexpected things in your life need I remind you?" The other pointed out.

"No, no, you don't have to." Roxas sighed. "I know perfectly well how much of a roller coaster my life has been for the last twenty-four years."

"Exactly. So, this thing about missing Axel…" Demyx changed the subject a little. "You like him, don't you?" His brows moved up and down suggestively.

"Demyx!" Roxas shouted; feeling even more embarrassed now that he'd been confronted with the actual question.

"Ah-ha! You do!"

"N-no I don't!"

"You hesitated and are trying to deny it! You do like Axel!"

"I—I…" He slumped back, his once stiff shoulders falling now. Maybe Demyx was right, maybe deep down he really did like his boss after all this time. But…

"M—maybe I do and maybe I don't like him Dem!" He asserted. "But I know one thing is certain and that liking him will just cause trouble and make our situation with Lea even more complicated than it already is." He said, his left hand burying into the front of his hair as he gripped the tresses by the root.

Lea. Demyx should have known that Roxas would fall back on the four year old. The boy was practically the center of Roxas' world and now that there was a possibility of sharing him with Axel… Well he didn't know what his cousin would do. Although he was taking joint custody into consideration, it was still one sided since Axel was currently MIA. No matter what though, the two of them were going to have to sort their predicament concerning Lea first before pursuing each other (well Roxas obviously liked the redhead despite denying it but Demyx wasn't quite so sure if Axel felt the same way).

Still, Demyx found it disappointing. This was Roxas! A twenty-four year old workaholic who currently had no love life but adored his adopted son more than anything and just when there was a glimmer of hope that he finally found someone he liked (even if it was his boss of all people) the curve ball was that the person ended up being his adoptive son's biological father.

Outrageous yes, but Demyx didn't want his cousin to let his feelings for the redhead disappear. Seriously, the guy needed to start dating again. "But!" He wrapped his burger back up and dropped it back into the take out bag. "The bottom line is that you do like him? You like Axel."

"Demyx I just said—"

"Bottom line is that you do like him, don't you?" Demyx repeated. "I want you to forget about the situation for a minute and think about your feelings towards Axel. Only your feelings towards Axel. It's as simple as that and if you don't like him, I won't pry." 'Not too much at least' but Demyx kept that thought to himself and focused his attention on his cousin.

Roxas' expression twisted into something that was just barely readable even to Demyx. He didn't understand why his cousin was being so pushy and though it would usually anger him, Roxas was already far too absorbed with trying to comprehend what the last few weeks were like with Axel for him to start lashing out at the other blond.

Ever since the two of them met, Roxas realized that he always had butterflies whenever Axel came near him. Their first meeting had taken him by surprise since he distinctly remembered Axel doing a double take before staring at him like he was piece of meat. Roxas hadn't said anything at the time because he'd been too concerned with his tasks but who was he to start badmouthing an anonymous superior after running into them on an elevator? Then again, after the redhead hired him, Roxas spat his pride back out after four months of swallowing it down only to belittle him anyways. The blond could already recall how white the man's face had been after the lazy ass dumped the duty of breaking off with a girl on him. Boy had Roxas been pissed and on that same day there had been a meeting with the literature and business departments concerning an event that one of their editors was proposing for a well-known author which was a pretty big deal. And even then Roxas had to take over for him.

He still remembered days where he didn't even notice himself staring at his superior until after the redhead looked up and caught. Axel would always tease him about falling for his charm, if only a little but Roxas had always been adamant and denied it each and every time. The guy's flirtatious demeanor and lazy work ethic had always been the biggest turn off for Roxas but now he kind of wished that Axel was there to say something. Anything—whether it was something stupid or a failed attempt at trying to woe him, Roxas wanted to hear his voice again. And see him. Roxas wanted to see him and the thought made his heart race all of a sudden.

This was such a foreign emotion to him. Roxas hadn't felt it in such a long time that he barely recognized it or even realized just how attracted he had become to his boss after working under him for so long. Was it possible for his heart to feel like it was on the edge of exploding?

Squeezing his eyes shut, Roxas then bit his lower lip and inhaled sharply.

For the duration of time that Roxas spent discerning about his feelings, Demyx watched his actions closely from the way his eyes softened to the way his fingers fiddled grasped lightly against the fabric of his pants. When he closed his eyes tightly, the older blond knew that his cousin had finally found his answer and he felt sure of what it was going to be.

"So, what is it? What does your heart tell you?" Demyx asked, his face betraying nothing as he waited in anticipation.

"I.." Roxas gulped. "I like him. All this time, I've liked Axel. Even if he's downright stupid sometimes and doesn't know how to keep it in his pants, I've always liked Axel more than a person like me should." He finally admitted, his voice shaking from his own realization.

To Demyx, hearing those words from his cousin was like a breath of fresh air. He accepted his feelings after all but it was only the beginning because more than anything, Demyx was sure that the start of Axel and Roxas' peculiar relationship was going to be no easy task at all.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story they belong respectfully to Square Enix.
> 
> Music: "I Found Myself Today" by A Change of Pace

  
o0o0o0o  


Two days after his discussion with Demyx happened; Roxas found himself standing in front of Axel Trenton's home with Lea in hand. The four year old looked nervous and the blond couldn't blame him since he had been quite vague about their destination after picking the boy up from preschool and taking them straight to Fountain Court by taxi.

For a bachelor like Axel, Roxas assumed the man would have a penthouse in the city since he'd have access to the clubs, bars, women and action of all kinds. But no—instead he was living it up in a neighborhood full of high society glams and executive workers. Like Crystal Fissure Hills, this was the kind of place that high paid doctors, lawyers, even celebrities settled down in and it was made obvious since all the houses were huge and had a spectacular view of the downtown area below. It was definitely a far stretch from the humble apartment Lea and he lived in with Cloud and Leon so it was no surprise at all how hesitant he was to even knock on the door.

"I can't turn back now, I'm already here…" Roxas mumbled under his breath.

Lea stood there clutching his father's hand tightly. The two of them had been standing in front of the large door for a long time now and it made the little boy wonder why they were even here in the first place. "Daddy are you scared to knock on the door?" He asked.

"Wha?" Roxas looked down at the four year old and laughed nervously. "N-no! What makes you think that?"

"Well we're just standing here and not doing anything."

"O-oh, right! Uhh—"

"If you're not going to knock on the door, you can just ring the doorbell see?" Lea pointed at the small rectangular shaped button. Before the thought of trying to stop him crossed Roxas' mind, Lea had already released his hand from his grip and was standing on the tips of his toes, his finger slowly pressing the button down. "Ring!" He cried happily and the doorbell activated instantly, ringing once then again and again as Lea constantly jabbed at it.

"Ahh! Lea that's enough!" Roxas panicked, quickly yanking the boy away, he lifted him up into his arms. "Don't play with the doorbell like that, it's very inappropriate okay?"

"Sorry daddy…" Lea looked down dejectedly.

"No, it's alright just don't do that again." He sighed. "And don't tell me that you're sorry, tell the owner of the house okay?" The blond replied as he placed his hand on the back of his son's head.

Behind the door, Roxas could hear a pair of pounding feet. Within seconds, the door was suddenly thrown open with a whoosh and it caught the pair off guard for a moment. Stiffening, Roxas finally found himself face to face with a disheveled looking Axel. His blue eyes widened at the older man's unruly sight and he made a disgusted noise at the strong smell of booze that was perforating from him.

"What the hell you—…" Axel growled at first but upon seeing that it was only Roxas with Lea in his arms, his irritated façade fell instantly and was replaced with surprise.

"I'm sorry for playing with your doorbell." Lea squeaked.

Axel looked from the little boy in his assistant's arms to the blond male himself. "R—roxas… Lea?"

"Hey, Mr. Trenton we were—" Roxas stopped midsentence to press Lea's face against his chest. He didn't want the boy to see the other redhead's drunk induced appearance. "We need to talk…"

"Oh, uh… Right, talking… Please, come in." Axel moved aside for them, his hand gesturing for them to enter his home.

Giving his boss a short nod, Roxas walked slowly into the large house with Lea in his arms. The boy's earlier apprehension returned in an instant upon entering the unknown home and he tightened his grip around Roxas' neck as a result. Although he recognized Axel, he still couldn't help but feel anxious after what had happened the weekend before. What was going on he wondered? Why were they here?

Blue eyes scanned briefly over the pristine interior of the large house. The walls were painted a soft shade of cream and it was contrasted with a deep brick colored wood floor. It was rather nice, Roxas thought and he took notice of the staircase in front of him which disappeared behind the wall to the right. On his left was a sitting room from the way there was a small couch pushed up against the wall and further down the foyer, he could only assume that it led to the rest of the house like the living room and kitchen. When Roxas looked to his right again, his eyes followed the wall and he was met with the sight of a rather large dining table with at least eight chairs circling around—it was another room and from where he stood he could see a connecting entrance further down leading to somewhere else.

Hearing the door shut behind him, Roxas' posture stiffened again and he turned towards the redhead who stood there nervously with his back pressed up against the door.

"The living room is this way, please follow me." Axel said and he began walking down the long foyer.

Watching the redhead walk past him, Roxas followed silently, his heart pounding even more. Unconsciously, his hold around Lea tensed and he hugged the boy as close as possible. Unfortunately, little Lea didn't expect to have the breath squeezed out of him and he whined.

"Daddy, too tight!" He hissed. "You're hugging me too tight!"

"Ah—sorry!" Roxas stammered nervously.

Ahead of the two, Axel smiled softly from listening to the exchange. If only he had eyes in the back of his head he thought to himself. Already he could imagine the blonde's embarrassed expression and Lea—he'd be pouting like no other, Axel was sure of it.

In no time, Lea's jaw dropped at the sight of the spacious living room. "You have a flat screen! And it's bigger than ours!" He pointed.

"Yes I do." Axel commented.

"And your couch, why is it so long?" Lea asked, his green eyes looking up at the older redhead. "It takes up more space than ours!"

"Well, I need to use up all this room somehow." Axel chuckled. The boy was full of so many questions; he almost forgot what it was like to be a kid himself. "Just make yourselves at home okay? I need to freshen up so give me ten minutes and I'll be back."

Lea stared after his retreating form, but before he could leave the living room completely, the boy stopped him. "Axel?"

"Hm?" The redhead glanced over his shoulder. "Yes Lea?"

"Could I watch TV?" He asked innocently, his pouty lips turned up into a smile.

How could he say no to the face of an angel? His angel of all things.

"Sure, go ahead." Axel replied. Looking to his assistant, he saw the way the blond looked down a little. "Go ahead and tinker with the remote." He said looking at Roxas. "Like I said earlier, make yourselves at home."

And with that said, he gave the pair one last smile before heading back towards the stairs.

"Make yourselves at home he says?" Roxas repeated the redhead's words in a soft whisper. Sighing, he carried Lea over to the long red couch and sat down with the boy in his lap before reaching for the remote sitting on the coffee table.

  
o0o0o0o  


Panic. Axel was panicking like crazy. Although he carried himself well in front of Roxas and Lea, behind his composed façade he was in utter shambles. He felt like a nervous school girl in his rush to brush his teeth, shower and change into a cleaner set of clothes. It was almost ridiculous but he didn't know how to keep his nerves from going haywire. He was certain that at some point he was bound to break in front of Roxas and Lea in the next hour or two.

Who wouldn't though? That was his son downstairs. His biological son, the son he thought he would never see after Larxene disappeared on him. He was alive after all this time—Axel's heart swelled just knowing that and he was even happier with the knowledge that his child had been raised by such a loving family. However, Axel couldn't help but envy the fact that he hadn't been given the chance to watch his little boy grow. He was jealous of Roxas because of that but he couldn't find it in himself to be angry at the blond. The twenty-four year old had saved Lea and raised him up as his own—Axel owed the man so much for that. Words just couldn't describe what he was feeling and he felt his face flush heatedly.

Somehow, Axel managed to compose himself again after staring at his reflection in the mirror for a while. He spent more than ten minutes getting ready due to his nervousness but at least it was under twenty minutes—that much he was certain about.

When he made his way back downstairs, Axel found Roxas and Lea right where he left them in the living room. Only this time, with the big screen on, he saw Lea bounce excitedly up and down on the couch next to Roxas who had an arm thrown around the boy's shoulder to keep him from falling off. Apparently, The Sword in the Stone was on Disney Junior and it was playing the scene where Merlin turned himself and Arthur into a pair of squirrels. It was one of many quirky parts to the movie from what Axel could remember and he chuckled softly, watching Lea laugh as he fell back into the couch.

"Someone looks rather happy now." The redhead commented as he made his entrance.

"Who wouldn't be?" Roxas asked with a lopsided smile. "It's The Sword in the Stone and it's a Disney classic mind you."

"Yeah! What daddy said!" Lea piped. He then patted the spot on his left. "Please sit with me Axel! I want to watch this movie together with you and daddy!"

Daddy. For a second, Axel wanted to correct him and tell him that he was his daddy—his real daddy but he knew that it would only pile on more drama to his growing plate. He laid his eyes on Roxas and he noticed the blond shift uncomfortably in his seat. Whatever his assistant was thinking about, it was probably along the same lines. They were both hurting one way or another and in a situation like theirs pain was unavoidable. Still he didn't want to cause anymore more stress, for both their sakes that's for sure.

The redhead shook his head with an exaggerated sigh. When he looked up again, he noticed Lea frown at his actions but he gave the boy a reassuring wink and his signature grin which made Roxas snort softly in response. "Now how could I say no to you when you're being so polite?"

Lea instantly brightened up at the older redhead's words. He then watched as Axel bounded straight towards him and plopped himself right down onto the couch, his right arm lifting up to rest on top of the couch just behind Lea and Roxas' head.

With both adults sitting on either side of him, Lea returned his attention to the program on the screen. His green eyes were glued to the moving pictures and from the concentrated look on his face, both Roxas and Axel could tell that he was already tuned out of reality and absorbed by the fantasy that was presented to him.

Roxas watched as the scrawny wolf attempted to make a meal out of Arthur on the screen. From time to time, Axel allowed himself the pleasure of sneaking one or two glances in the other's direction and it was only once that he caught the blond staring back at him.

Roxas stiffened instantly when his gaze met the redhead's and he snapped his eyes back towards the movie, pretending that nothing happened but Axel saw how his cheeks flushed darkly in his bid to look away.

The expression he wore was beautiful, Axel thought. Roxas had delicate features which could easily be compared to a woman's but being a male; Axel took notice that he still had a boyish look to him. However, the contrast brought out the best in Roxas' looks the redhead concluded and he appreciated the subtlety, admiring the ever changing shine in his blue eyes to the flawless skin and the slender yet muscular build he possessed. He didn't look breakable, on the contrary, not like the many model physiques Axel was so used to conquering and he liked that even more. It made Roxas look strong yet sensitive to a certain degree. Not only that but it actually accentuated his ever fluctuating personality.

Although Lea had been eager about watching the movie together, his young body couldn't handle the comfortable couch he sat on and the warmth radiating off from both Roxas and Axel's bodies combined together. It eventually coaxed a long tired yawn from him and within minutes the four year old closed his eyes only to slowly fall into Axel's lap.

Axel was shocked at first. He didn't know what to do or how to react to the situation he was in and Roxas' amused smile didn't help make the situation feel any better.

"Wha—Roxas!" Axel hissed at the younger male. "What do I do?"

Roxas chuckled softly at him, blue eyes shimmering at the display in front of him. "What do you think?"

"Well…" Axel paused. He felt helpless and insecure with himself. What was he supposed to do? "I don't know…" He admitted weakly. "Help me out here."

"Haven't you ever taken care of a child before? You know? Like babysitting? Just let him sleep there and try not to wake him up."

"No, never." Axel replied, his hands resting hesitantly on his son's back as the boy curled up into his stomach. "It's more like, everyone is always babysitting me. And even when I'm a full grown adult, I still have people looking after me." He mused sadly, causing the blond to frown worriedly. "People like you, Roxas."

"Me?" Roxas blushed, his voice at a loss for words as he stared at the older male. "No I—"

"Yes you do." Axel insisted. "And all this time, you've been taking care of my little guy too. I can't thank you enough for that." He said, his fingers reaching out and gently running through the short strands of Lea's red hair. "You know, when I found out that Larxene was pregnant—I was so happy. Our relationship sucked and I'm pretty sure I was about ready to call it quits but I fell in love with the idea of becoming a dad even though I was what? Twenty-three years old?" Axel laughed, it was hardly amusing though—more like sad.

"Mr. Trenton—no Axel, you can take it slow you know. Don't have to let it all out at once or…" Roxas' eyes widened and without thinking he leaned over to brush his finger across the redhead's cheek. Wiping away the lone tear, he settled back down only to gaze at the carpet with embarrassment written all over his face. "Sorry I—uh, I couldn't…"

Axel sniffled and with his free hand, he rubbed at the corners of his eyes for any more stray tears that were threatening to fall. "No, it's okay. And I want to tell you—you have a right to know now that our working relationship has been taken beyond the office." He then smiled all of a sudden. "I just realized, that you said my name."

"What?" Roxas blinked, his cheeks brightening up even more now.

"Axel." The redhead chuckled. "You called me Axel without having me to correct you for once."

"Well I—!" Roxas whined. There was no excuse he could think of that would save him and he groaned into his hands.

"And it took me about a year to get you to say my name."

"Stop changing the damn subject!"

"Whoa, come on now? Just let me have this one moment to bask in finally being able to break you into saying my name."

"Tck, whatever." Roxas crossed his arms with a huff.

"Hey, don't be like that." Axel smiled.

From the corner of his eye, Roxas gave Axel a side glance. He looked calm, his smile serene from the one Roxas had been imagining in his head. It made the blond blush again and he suddenly found himself being pulled towards the other's face.

Axel pressed their foreheads together. He didn't know why he did it but he knew it felt right. "Thank you, Roxas."

The feeling of Axel's hot minty breath against his face caused Roxas' heart to race. They were so close now and there was no doubt in Roxas' mind that his cheeks were as bright as the reddest tomatoes on earth—no, brighter than Axel's gravity defying hair!

"You know, all of my life I've been nothing but a little shit." Axel began to explain. "I got whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. Drugs, alcohol, women, the riches of high society… I could afford it all. That was until good old dad decided to teach me a lesson and me being all high and mighty at the time thought I could get by with just my name. Boy was I wrong."

Roxas listened and stared at him as he tried to control the ever constant heat that raged across his cheeks. The man was opening up to him and it made his heart flutter even more.

"After a while, you can only imagine the struggle I went through in getting an apartment and paying the bills without my dad's money to help me. By that time, Larxene and I were so ready to end our relationship right then and there but when we found out she was pregnant, we stayed together—or at least we tried to." Axel sighed, his eyes falling down to look at the little boy still fast asleep in his lap. Memories of his time together with the deceased woman caused him to shudder and it did not go unnoticed to Roxas. "Didn't take long for her to officially break it off with me though—I mean, we fought all the time, it wasn't uncommon however she took Lea with her when she was still pregnant with him and that's when I fell and hit rock bottom. After that, it was just like you said—she disappeared and I never found out what happened to her until I heard the news reports from Hollow Bastion."

Roxas' reached over to grasp Axel's trembling hand. When he laced their fingers together, the redhead instantly gripped them tightly. The reaction was so immediate that it left Roxas rather surprised but he pushed those thoughts away in favor of giving Axel what little comfort he could. The topic was a rather sensitive subject, Roxas wasn't stupid and though he found it hard to stomach listening to Axel's story about his old flame, he was still connected to him regardless. That was the past and this was the present. They had to get through this together, he thought.

"After she left, my brother, Reno found me. I was a complete mess and it took him almost two years to help me get back up on my own two feet and back into dad's good graces again. I didn't know what happened to my boy but when I learned about Larxene's affairs on the news, there was no mention of Lea anywhere and at the time, I thought I lost him for good. I thought he was dead and I accepted it…" Axel's voice cracked this time. "I thought he was dead this whole time and I didn't even bother to look for him.. Didn't even try..." He said, feeling guilty now as he belittled himself over and over again for not having tried hard enough to find his son during that time.

Roxas watched as Axel's sad green eyes squeezed shut. From the way his voice faltered, he knew right away that the older man was blaming himself. Releasing their fingers, he went to embrace Axel around the neck instead, whispering softly into his ear. "You didn't have to look for him though. Destiny brought Lea to me and it was destiny that reunited you two again. From me to you." Roxas said as he buried his face into Axel's shoulder.

"Destiny?" Axel asked.

Roxas nodded his head lightly against him. "Yes, destiny."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I don't know. There's no way to explain it which is why I believe this is destiny. A curious thing, isn't it?"

"Heh, that's funny. It almost makes sense I guess." Axel chuckled as he pressed their foreheads back together.

"You better believe it."

"We'll see."

  
o0o0o0o  


"Daddy." Lea nudged Roxas gently and received no response. The twenty-four year old was asleep much to the boy's dismay.

When the four year old woke up after spending about an hour napping, he found his father and Axel fast asleep with Roxas' head resting against the redhead's shoulder. It was a rather odd display in Lea's mind but he guessed it made sense one way or another if they were tired. Still, Lea was determined to wake the blond up because how else was he supposed to feed himself when the man in charge of making him food was sleeping on the job?

"Daddy." Lea poked the blonde's cheek before turning his sights on the redhead next to him. "Axel." He poked his cheek too.

Again, no response.

Finally puffing out his cheeks, Lea inhaled sharply. "Daddy!" He yelled.

Roxas whimpered quietly and crinkled his nose. Lea frowned at this. It wasn't good enough.

The boy crawled over to him from Axel's lap. Placing his hands against the blonde's chest, he leaned up next to his ear and took a deep breath. "Daddy wake up!" He screamed and this time it was enough for the older man to jolt in place.

"What!" Roxas immediately lifted his head up and looked around. "What happened?! Lea!"

"Daddy." Lea gave him the classic puppy dog eyes. "I'm hungry."

"H-hungry?"

Lea nodded his head.

"What's with all the yelling?" Axel groaned, his head falling to the side to rest against Roxas' arm.

Roxas yawned and began to rub the exhaustion from his eyes. "Lea's hungry."

"Hungry?" Axel blinked a few times—it was his way of trying to ward the sleep away. "Well then let's make something."

"You mean cook?" Roxas asked.

"Yeah, what else do you think I mean? I have a kitchen and I have food. I live alone but that doesn't mean I don't know how to cook."

"Are you going to cook?" Lea climbed back into his lap, giving the older man one of his biggest smiles yet.

"Sure, I'll cook." Axel instantly smiled back. "Is there anything that you want to eat? I can make it for you." He winked playfully.

"Hmm…" The boy's lip turned up into a thoughtful pout. He looked from Roxas to Axel and when he paused again on the blond, he whipped his head back and grinned at the redhead. "Pasta bake!"

  
o0o0o0o  


"I'm still surprised that you had all the ingredients lying around here." Roxas said as he scrubbed away at the dishes.

"Tell me about it." Axel sighed, taking a rinsed plate and shoving into the dish washer. "Pasta bake? That took like two hours!"

"I used to make it often but time isn't a luxury I have except on weekends. The recipe takes a while to prepare now that you know from this experience so I've always stuck to making something that took less time. I guess Lea missed having it."

"It sure was good though so I guess I can see why he wanted it so badly." Axel thought aloud and it made Roxas smile with embarrassment. "When you're free, you should teach me how to make it."

"Maybe? We'll see." Roxas looked up at him, his cheeks flushed for the hundredth time or so.

Back on the couch with a stuffed belly, Lea sat there with his eyes glued to the TV again while Roxas and Axel were still occupied with cleaning the dishes. He wasn't watching the program though. On the contrary, he was carefully listening in on his father's conversation with Axel. He couldn't remember Roxas ever interacting with other people other than his uncles Demyx, Zexion, Sora and Riku and seeing how differently he was responding to Axel made Lea begin to wonder what sort of relationship they had.

When Axel released an exasperated 'Done!' Lea shifted in his seat to glance towards the pair. "Hey daddy?"

"Yes Lea?" Roxas called back, wiping his hands on a nearby dish rag.

"When are we going home? It's dark outside." He said, pointing at a nearby window.

"Oh." Roxas frowned, as well as Axel. The pair had been so caught up with each other that they had almost forgotten about the time. "Right now, I guess… I'll call a taxi so get your stuff together okay?"

Axel caught the hesitation in his assistant's voice. He sounded disappointment and for a moment, he realized that he was too. Before Roxas could reach into his pocket to fish out his cellphone, Axel gently grabbed him by the wrist, thus stopping him from making the call. "I can take you guys home instead." He said. "I don't mind." He added.

"A-are you sure?" Roxas blinked, feeling somewhat awed.

"I told you, I don't mind." Axel replied, smiling gently at him.

  
o0o0o0o  


The ride back was quiet for the most part. Lea still needed to take a bath before bed and the boy added that Roxas still needed to tell him a bed time story before they went to sleep too. This made Axel laugh behind the wheel.

Though Roxas didn't say very much or give any indication during the car ride home, he shyly yearned for there to be more time spent between him, Lea and Axel. It was hard to admit, but he felt like their interaction together was natural. He didn't know how to explain it really and his heart throbbed almost painfully just thinking about it. Today was sort of a miracle, he thought to himself and he rather enjoyed the flow of today more than anything.

When Axel slowly pulled up into the apartment's parking lot, he frowned after realizing just how fast time flew by. "Well, we're here!" He said excitedly in an attempt to mask the impending loneliness that was sure to follow once Roxas and Lea were out of the car.

Lea unclipped his seatbelt. "We're home!"

"Ah, Lea."

"Yes daddy?" He looked up at his father who was still strapped up in the front passenger seat.

"What do we say when someone does a good deed for you?"

"Thank you." Lea answered firmly. Settling his gaze on the driver, he gave the older redhead an good old smile. "Thank you Axel for taking daddy and I home."

Axel shot Roxas a skeptical look, one that left the blond grinning rather proudly for whatever reason. Axel rolled his eyes at him though, and returned Lea's smile with one of his own without giving Roxas a second glance. "Why you're very welcome, Lea." It was then that a thought crossed his mind. "And you, Roxas? Don't you have something to say?" He asked with a smirk stretching slowly across his lips.

Roxas could see that the mischievous glint in Axel's eyes was back. He was doing this to try and spite him and the blond deadpanned for a second until an idea emerged in his head too, causing him to smile back rather playfully at the older man. This was revenge.

Axel didn't expect such a bizarre reaction out of the blond. It made him do a double take as Roxas undid his seatbelt and he noted the teasing glimmer dancing in his blue eyes under the streetlight next to them despite how dark it was. Axel was more or less accustom to the other's brash tendency to either hurt him or yell but this—this was opposite of Roxas' usual actions. Very contradictory indeed. Watching him get up slowly, Axel's green eyes widened when he realized that Roxas was leaning over his side of the car. Inching closer and closer, he remained frozen in his seat until he felt the other's lips press softly against his cheek to give him a chaste kiss. When Roxas pulled away again, Axel couldn't help but feel the urge to pulled him back to him again but he resisted somehow due to still being in shock by the blonde's sudden boldness.

"Thank you Axel." Roxas whispered into his ear and the redhead gasped softly.

Before Axel replied with a shaky, 'You're welcome' though, Roxas was scrambling out of the door and shutting it behind him. In the back seat, Lea stared with his mouth hanging wide open but even he didn't stay there for very long since Roxas rushed to open his door and carry him out of the car.

"T-thanks again! Good night Mr. Trenton!" Roxas shouted and he slammed the door to his car.

Axel watched his retreating form run up towards the stairs. Finally realizing that he was all alone, he clumsily rolled down his window to yell. "It's Axel! Get it memorized!" He shouted into the night, laughing at the end as he pressed his forehead against the steering wheel.

  
o0o0o0o  


Roxas heard Axel's last words being thrown out into the wind but he couldn't find it in himself to yell back. Instead he ran straight to his apartment door and once he unlocked it, he ran right inside with Lea still hanging tightly around his neck. The boy was still shocked by his actions; there was no doubt in Roxas' mind.

He kissed his boss, his son's biological father and the object of his affections on the cheek. It'd been a good idea; he couldn't stop himself from doing it. Axel had done similar forms of false intimacy on him before as a kind of sexual harassment in the past so he thought it was only right to get some sort of payback and give his boss a taste of his own medicine. Unfortunately once the deed had been done; Roxas realized too late what kind of position he had put himself in.

"Oh my god…" He groaned. "Dear Etro have mercy on my poor soul…"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Cloud stood at the end of the foyer with his arms crossed. Beside him, Leon arched a brow at his young brother-in-law and for a second, Roxas imagined himself as a teenager being caught coming home late from a party.

"Did you really have to be so noisy on your way in?" Leon added his expression still unchanged.

"Well…"

It was only then that Lea decided to recover from his initial shock and there was no way that Roxas could predict what he was about to say next. "Dad kissed Axel in the car!"

"Huh?" Cloud's jaw dropped.

"Say that again?" Leon asked slowly.

"Lea!"

"Daddy kissed Axel in the car!" The four year old repeated and this time, Cloud and Leon smirked as Roxas' face burned harder than ever that day.

"Lea how could you be a traitor to your own father?!"


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story they belong respectfully to Square Enix.
> 
> Music: "いのちの名前- Inochi no namae" by DJ Sly

  
o0o0o0o

  
Roxas took a sip from his cup of coffee in the elevator on his way up to the office with an obvious grin on his face.

Last night had been one of the most relaxing eight hours of sleep that he'd had in a long time. It was dreamless, but he didn't care. It was good regardless, and by the time he woke up, Roxas felt so refreshed and ready to start the day that Lea's usual bounce in the morning couldn't compare. His son found his enthusiasm quite odd, even Cloud and Leon had to do a double take. It was rather silly in their minds but they didn't question it, instead they went along with it as usual.

Ever since Friday evening last week, all Roxas could think about was—dare he say it… Axel. His boss and the biological father of his adopted son; yeah, that guy. After Lea's outburst about the kiss, Cloud and Leon pretty much gave him hell in a very special way. They didn't question why he gave his boss a kiss, and that was the thing that bugged Roxas to no end (not that he wanted them to ask him anyways). Even worse was that their telepathic bantering was written on their faces and they smirked knowingly at him—like they knew all along that he was going to break down and give into his boss's advances eventually. They didn't press into the matter thank goodness, only a stretched out, 'really now?' from Leon and a 'took you long enough' from Cloud and that was the end of that. Or at least Roxas had hoped so until Cloud made another remark and because of it he bolted out of the foyer in a frenzy.

The ding from the elevator snapped Roxas from out of his thoughts. He looked ahead; past the few workers who were yawning or drinking a cup of their own coffee. Just a few more steps down the hall towards the big black doors and he would see Axel in less than a minute. Knowing this, Roxas took a deep breath and was on his way towards the office with his head held high.

Upon entering the spacious room, Roxas found his redheaded boss eying the stacks of completed paperwork. They still needed his signature. Roxas rolled his eyes at the kicked expression the older man wore. He deserved it for taking a personal vacation though and Roxas felt no amount of pity for him whatsoever.

When Axel heard the door close behind his assistant, he looked up at him with a frown. "You're horrible, you do know that right?"

"How so?" Roxas asked as he made his way over towards his respective desk. "I think I did an excellent job at double checking the fine print for you. And I even left you some notes to make it easier to understand." He pointed out.

"I know, I found it right here." Axel waved the little packet in the air. "And I thank you for it but did you really have to go this far?"

Roxas placed his suitcase on the side next to his desk after retrieving a few necessary papers and his favorite fountain pen. When he looked up at Axel, he gave the man a glare that sent a shiver running immediately up the redhead's spine. 'How dare he not appreciate my efforts!' His mind screamed.

"Well sorry if you don't like it." Roxas snapped a little, tapping the end of his pen against the surface of his desk. "It's pretty hard not to get things done efficiently when your usually annoying boss is gone for a week without giving their assistant prior notice."

Axel gulped, guilt running through his veins now. "Sorry." He replied slowly, a hand rubbing against the back of his neck nervously.

"You better be." Roxas muttered before releasing a short sigh. Only ten in the morning and the redhead was already stepping on his nerves. He should have expected as much so why did he even bother believing that it would be any different? They were pretty much back to square one.

Axel watched as Roxas sighed dejectedly. Earlier, the blond seemed like he was in a good mood upon walking through the doors but now he was to some degree, upset and it was all because Axel talked with his mouth and not with his head. He wanted to bang his head against something—anything. His desk, the wall—not the window of course but Axel felt he needed to apologize so he got up and crossed the room, plopping himself right down on the edge of Roxas' desk and sitting his bottom on top of a few sheets of paper.

"I'm sorry Roxas, I really am."

Roxas just stared at him. His blank expression made Axel even more uneasy than before but he didn't relent and instead pressed on.

"Everything you do for me, for the company, for Lea—I appreciate it." He said, a smile growing on his face. "All of it. So for all that you've done, from the bottom of my heart, thank you."

Roxas' mouth went dry. It was certainly unexpected and for a second, he thought the older man was about to try and sexually harass him like he used to do in the past. But no, he didn't much to his surprise. Thinking about Axel's sincere words, it caused his heart to skip a beat and he inhaled sharply at the realization.

It was then that Axel suddenly snapped his fingers, his face lighting up with an epiphany in mind. "Oh, right! Since I brought up Lea, we need to finish that talk of ours!"

And just like that the mood was instantly ruined and Roxas inwardly groaned. Oh well, he thought. After all, Lea was an important matter, so it was easy for him to push aside his personal feelings. He chuckled at how quickly the mood changed but it was for the better he told himself.

"Alright, do you have anything in particular that you want to talk about?" Roxas asked.

"Yes, actually I do." Axel hopped off of the desk and went around, standing next to his assistant instead. He then leaned back against the edge of the table and crossed his arms, eyes casted down and staring right at his assistant.

Well, at least he wasn't sitting on his papers anymore, Roxas mused before he propped his chin against an open palm. "Why don't you start talking, sir?"

"Come on." Axel groaned pitifully. "Is it really that hard for you to call me Axel?"

"We're at the office—"

"It's just the two of us in this room—"

"Mr. Trent—"

"Axel." The redhead corrected, narrowing his eyes at him warningly.

Roxas pouted, releasing a brief huff. Why was this man so childish he thought to himself as he massaged the sides of his temples. Given the amount of silence drifting between them, it looked like they weren't going to get anything done any time soon unless Axel got what he wanted. They couldn't afford to waste time like this.

With a short sigh, his lips still formed into a little pout, Roxas softly glared back at his boss. "Fine, have it your way Axel. Now would you please not waste our time and get on with whatever it is you want to talk about?"

"Thank you Roxas!" Axel grinned triumphantly and Roxas rolled his eyes at him. "So, we've already established that Lea's my son as well as yours." The blond listened carefully now, causing him to shake his head with a knowing smile. "I'm not going to ask you to give him up if that's what you're worried about however I want to spend time with him."

"As in having him over for weekends and taking him out, right?" Roxas asked.

"Basically, that's if you don't mind." Axel replied.

"Sounds like joint custody to me."

Hearing this, Axel shifted nervously from one foot to the other. "That's kind of what I'm asking for, actually."

"Oh?" Roxas arched a brow. Reading the other's expression as carefully as possible, he noted how tense his superior appeared, as if he himself wasn't even sure about what he was asking for was allowed. Roxas felt no different but it was a logical request from the father of his child he told himself. There was nothing to fear, not yet at least. "Lea doesn't even know the truth about you, so we'll have to put a hold on the idea of joint custody for now. What we can do is introduce you into his life slowly though. If it helps, come with me to pick him up at preschool." Roxas said with a look of hope in his eyes. "Every day if you can. I'll even bring him here, just as long as he doesn't prove to be a distraction for you and me while we work."

"Really?" Axel blinked, his voice almost catching in his throat.

Roxas saw the way his eyes lit up all of a sudden and he was reminded of Lea's simple reactions. "Well yeah. Just small steps okay. Lea is a sensitive kid after all and neither he nor I will be happy if you drop the bomb on him about who you are." He narrowed his eyes up at the redhead in a threatening manner though. Lea's happiness meant everything to him and he was going to make doubly sure that it should be important to Axel too. "Besides, doing that will only confuse and hurt him. You and I need to be considerate of his feelings so for now, this is the only thing I can think of to accommodate all of us in this situation."

The blond was serious, there was no mistake about that but Axel was serious too. He just wasn't on par with the younger man, not yet at least but he was sure that in due time that he would care about their predicament just as much. "I'm pretty sure that you've got yourself a deal. I couldn't have said it any better myself to be honest."

"Did you have anything else that you wanted to talk about?"

Axel paused for a second. "Well, don't get mad or anything but I wanted to know how you would feel about me hanging out with Lea on weekends?" He leaned down until his face was close to Roxas' level. "Y'know, when I'm not on business trips or anything?"

Roxas backed up in his chair slightly, in need of some breathing room. "If you're trying to imply spending the night, I'll have to take it up with Cloud and Leon. If you're implying that you want to have Lea over for the weekend, then no. Because like I said before, he doesn't know who you are yet and it doesn't feel right handing him over to you so suddenly."

At that, Axel frowned. "Of course I meant spending the night or just taking him out for the day. I mean, I'd probably give him a heart attack if I kept him over for the whole weekend. Jeez, why are you so defensive all of a sudden?"

"Do I really need a reason to be protective over my child? It should be obvious." Roxas growled.

Axel instantly backed away from him, hands going up in a sign of surrender. "Sorry! Sorry! That was extremely stupid of me to say!"

"You think?"

"Yes, I apologize!"

"Rejected." Roxas said bluntly. "Stupid father of my child…"

"Hey now that wasn't very nice to say to your boss."

"Wel—wait a minute, don't you have paperwork to sign?!" Roxas suddenly slammed his hands down against the surface of his desk.

Seeing that Roxas' was on the verge of entering one of his violent tantrums, Axel scrambled to return to his desk before all hell broke loose. "Okay I'm going!"

Watching his retreating form, Roxas sank back down into his chair and clicked his tongue before looking back down at his papers. "And people wonder why you're the vice president and I'm not."

  
o0o0o0o  


"Daddy!" Lea ran right into Roxas' waiting arms.

"Hey there, did you have a good day in class?" Roxas asked as he picked the boy up.

"Mmhmm!" Looking back over his shoulder, Lea waved goodbye to his friend Isa and his father Saix before turning back to smile up at the blond. "During arts and crafts today, we used macaroni to make pictures!"

"Oh, really now? I'd love to see it."

"You can't see it yet because it's drying on this big rack right now. Ms. Farron said we can take it home tomorrow, maybe."

"Guess I'll have to wait huh?"

"Yup!"

"I'm sure it's very beautiful." Roxas said as he carried the boy out of the classroom. "I'm excited to see what you made."

Waiting off to the side of the preschool's entrance, Axel stood there nervously, waiting for the arrival of his assistant and four year old son. He passed the time glancing around at the flowers lining the building. It was a very colorful place, a fitting environment for a preschool.

When Axel heard the door swing open, he was grateful to find Roxas and Lea coming out. Following behind them though, the redhead's jaw fell open upon seeing the next person exiting the building. It was his neighbor, Saix Ferguson of all people. Instantly, Axel recoiled and it didn't take long for either Roxas or Saix to notice his discomfort.

"Axel! You're here!" Lea said excitedly.

"Axel? Axel Trenton Rhapsodos. What in the world are you doing here?" Saix stared coldly at him.

"Rhapsodos? Please, you know I prefer my mother's surname better than my father's right? It has more authority under the name Trenton and has a better ring to it when you couple it with my career wouldn't you say?" Axel tried to laugh but the other man didn't appreciate his joke and just continued to stare at him with narrowing golden eyes.

Roxas looked back and forth between the two men. The atmosphere felt insanely tense, not to mention awkward so it was amazing that he was able to bring himself to say anything to relieve the sudden tension in the air. "Excuse me, but do you two know each other by any chance?"

"That guy." Isa pointed at Axel with a bored stare. "He's our neighbor and is on occasion an embarrassment to the entire neighborhood."

"Huh?" Roxas blinked.

"What? Hey, I've been behaving just fine for the past month little guy!" Axel shot back at Isa but the boy shrugged, unaffected by the older man's pathetic excuse to exert some form of authority for being an adult.

"Please do refrain from arguing with my son. You're being a poor example as an adult and what's worse is that you're acting no different from a child." Saix commented bluntly.

"Okay! I believe we still have work to do at the office Mr. Trenton, so start marching back!" Roxas cut into the conversation loudly with a growl. "We'll see you tomorrow Isa, Saix! I hope you two have a great day!" He added with a laugh before bolting forward, hooking his arm around the redhead's elbow and yanking him along the preschool's cobble stone path.

Once they were a fair distance away from the preschool and out of earshot, Roxas glared hard at him. "I have no clue what Isa meant, but I'm going to find out one way or another—"

"Rox—" Axel tried to talk but he was promptly cut off.

"Don't you dare try to wiggle yourself out of this one Axel Trenton! When I find out from Saix what it is you've been doing to earn yourself the title of being the embarrassment to the neighborhood, you best hope that I don't rip you a new one." He hissed. "Also, you had better start cleaning up your act or you can forget about what we talked about this morning."

The blond gave the redhead one last huff. Releasing his arm, Axel followed behind his assistant obediently while Lea just sat back and watched the exchange quietly. It wasn't his fault this time, so he didn't see a point in trying to play his puppy dog card.

"Suck's to be you, Axel!" Lea chimed, causing Roxas to snort at the statement.

Axel merely groaned and nodded his head in agreement. It was going to be a long, difficult task to earn Roxas' trust but it was a job he had to do regardless. He just hoped that by the end of it that it'd be worth all the pain and suffering he was sure to be subjected to from the spitfire that was Roxas Strife.

  
o0o0o0o  


When the three of them returned to the office with Chinese takeout for lunch, many employees stopped to stare at the redheaded doppelganger of Axel Trenton. Roxas in particular felt extremely nervous once they stepped into the lobby of the building since all eyes seemed to settle on the three of them on their way up. On the other hand though, Lea was having a field day. The excitement in his green eyes made Axel smile the entire time and watching him practically bounce off the walls at finally being allowed to see where his father worked did some good to minimize the impending stress Roxas was sure to feel later on.

Work went by relatively fast. Even though Lea made a habit of running around the room and asking questions, neither Axel nor Roxas seemed to mind his enthusiasm. The boy's youthful energy gave the room some light and color—it was like a breath of fresh air to them and they thoroughly enjoyed the new atmosphere the office suddenly had.

By the time their work was done and Lea began fussing about being hungry again since it was supper time, Axel thought it was best to take both Roxas and Lea home himself. He was used to taking the taxi to and from work much like Roxas but today of all days he thought it would be a little more convenient to take his own car. It was by sheer luck that his decision would come in handy and what stroked his ego more was that Roxas thanked him for giving them a lift home and as compensation for giving up his time for them, he invited him over for dinner right away much to Lea's glee.

Tonight was Leon's turn to make dinner. Roxas was hoping for a hearty, home cooked meal to come home to but once the three entered the apartment, they found Leon and Cloud at the table waiting for them with two boxes of pizza, two liters of soda, paper plates and napkins.

'So much for a home cooked meal.' Roxas thought to himself, brow twitching while Leon leaned back in his chair lazily. Lea on the other hand grew excited by the sight of the hot, cheesy morsel waiting for him inside the large box and he ran straight to his own chair. Before he could sit down though, a firm 'ahem' from his dear father Roxas stopped him and the blond tapped his foot against the floor several times in a light scolding manner.

"Need I remind you what we are supposed to do before every meal, Lea?"

"We wash our hands!" Lea replied.

Roxas nodded his head with a smile. "Exactly, now go on, you know the drill." Glancing over his shoulder, he gave Axel a stern look. "You too." He added before leading their boy towards the sink in the kitchen.

After thoroughly washing their hands together and earning a few smirks from Leon and Cloud, Lea scrambled back over to the dining table and not too long after Roxas and Axel followed slowly behind him before settling down on either side of their four year old son.

"Pizza! Pizza!" Lea began to chant excitedly as he swayed back and forth in his chair.

"We have pepperoni and Hawaiian, which one would you like?" Leon asked as he handed off plates to everyone around the table.

"Hm…" Lea placed his little index finger against bottom lip. He looked around as the adults piled on their slices and once he caught sight of the delectable pineapple and ham, he felt his mouth water. "Hawaiian! May I please have Hawaiian?"

"Yes sir." Leon said, carefully placing a thin slice on his nephew's plate and handing it off to him.

With the addition of Axel at the table, dinner went along pleasantly, more so than usual. It was almost a repeat of breakfast a few weeks ago and Lea chattered up a storm much like he did earlier at the office.

"Oh! Today when daddy picked me up, Axel came with him!" Lea said excitedly and both Leon and Cloud nodded their heads as they each took a bite from their slices of pizza. "Isa's dad and Axel are apparently neighbors too! But Isa's dad doesn't seem to like him very much." Lea added, causing Axel to choke on his drink a bit.

"What? Why?" Cloud asked, his blue eyes setting their sights on the offending redhead.

"Isa said—Isa said… Hm, I forgot. Daddy, what did Isa say?"

"An occasional embarrassment to the entire neighborhood." Roxas answered after chewing and swallowing the last bit of his crust. He was full after three slices.

Hearing the conversation, Axel looked down at his plate nervously now that Leon and Cloud were giving him their full attention. Lea didn't last his second slice of Hawaiian so it left Leon to be the one to finish the four year olds share for him. It was no problem though, Leon didn't mind. It was only when Cloud decided to poke his husband in the belly repeatedly did the brunet stop to stare coldly at the blond.

"Do you mind?"

"Not at all actually, and to be honest it's rather therapeutic rubbing your fattening stomach."

"Cloud I'm warning you…"

"I'm just teasing." Cloud said with a chuckle before leaning over to softly peck the brunet's cheek.

Watching the short exchange, Roxas smiled and shook his head. Those two were an odd pair he thought, but even so he loved his older brother and brother in-law regardless of their strange forms of communication. It was a Cloud/Leon thing. A Cleon thing, he mused.

"Satisfied?" Roxas asked, his eyes falling on Lea.

The four year old hummed almost absentmindedly in response as he rubbed his full belly. "Oh, yeah."

"Good to hear, now how about we give you your nightly bath and get you ready for bed?" Roxas suggested.

"Aw, but I'm not tired yet." Lea said but everyone could see the way the boy's eyelids were becoming heavy. Sleep was upon him though he was not yet aware of the drowsiness taking over him.

Regardless of Lea's gentle protesting, Roxas still got up and carried his tired boy out of the room towards the bathroom. "Come on little guy, whether you like it or not, its bath time."

"Aw, but daddy."

"No buts." Roxas chuckled. "Axel?"

"Yes?" The redhead looked up.

"Don't make any trouble for Leon and Cloud okay? I'll be done with Lea in a little bit."

Axel's mouth fell open but he didn't say a word, too stunned to give the blond a reply.

After leaving the room, Axel gulped nervously and he turned his head slowly to look at his assistant's relatives. Leon and Cloud looked back at him with a mixture of boredom and seriousness; it was quite unnerving really and made the redhead's stomach flip. Without Roxas around he suddenly felt vulnerable and for the most part his mind began to shuffle with various images of the two men threatening him in a number of unspeakable ways. He groaned uncomfortably and sank down into his seat as a result of the horrendous imagery.

"Why so scared, Axel?" Cloud finally asked. "We're not going to hurt you that much."

"Cloud, you're not helping." Leon said.

The blond shrugged. "Didn't say I was helping to begin with."

To this Leon shook his head and sighed. "You make a good point but moving on, Axel we have a few things we'd like to discuss."

"W-we?" Axel inquired shakily.

"Yes we, as in Cloud and I." Leon said, crossing his arms against his chest.

"Okay, well what do we need to talk about?" He asked carefully.

"Roxas and Lea." The brunet replied.

"Of course." Axel looked down at his plate, his head bowed low.

"Is that a problem?" Cloud questioned, blue eyes narrowed at Axel in a threatening manner.

"No! Not at all! It's just, Roxas and I already discussed this and—"

"Well then tell us." Leon interjected. "What are you two planning to do now that you've learned that Lea is your son?"

The way the couple's eyes burned into Axel reminded the redhead of hour long meetings with the various heads of department at work. Only, they weren't talking about business, authors and finance, they were talking about something much bigger than that, but to a degree it could be considered a connection to the company if he looked at it from a work related perspective. Still, Leon and Cloud were vastly different from the businessmen in the usual monkey suit he was used to encountering and it was probably what made it all the more intimidating. It'd been years since he came into contact with people like them, not since his high school and college days and he felt a little rusty because of it—intimidated too. If they wanted to, he wouldn't be surprised if either one of them suddenly got up to punch him.

"What's taking you so long? Start talking." Cloud said rather harshly.

The blonde's voice caused Axel to jump with surprise in his chair. "Sorry! I was just thinking!"

"Well you better stop thinking and actually say something." The older Strife pointed out. "Just because you're our nephew's biological father, doesn't mean we're going to take it easy on you. In fact, if you mess up in any way, shape or form—I'll make sure that you pay dearly for whatever it is you do to make either Roxas or Lea upset."

"He's threatening you by the way." Leon commented with a heavy sigh.

"I-I know and its working." Axel shuddered.

"Now would you quit stalling, and explain to us what exactly you and Roxas were talking about?" Cloud was growing impatient and it was becoming more apparent with each second that ticked away.

"Roxas and I, we just agreed that I should spend more time with Lea. We're taking baby steps, or at least I am, y'know?" Axel gave the blond an awkward reply. Even he thought it was a little stupid to a degree but at the moment he was stumbling on his words. Who wouldn't though? It was kind of difficult for him to concentrate when there were two guys in the room that were staring him down like ravenous wolves waiting to strike him. "All I know is that eventually when he's ready, and when we feel ready, Roxas and I are planning to tell Lea the truth. We're also considering joint custody afterwards but that's still a long way to go from now, and we need to see how well Lea can adjust to my presence. Still, the bottom line is that I'm going to do my best to become involved in Lea's life to make up for being absent for four years. It's what I have to do and it's what I want to do." He concluded.

A moment of silence fell upon the three adults. Both Leon and Cloud were expressionless, making it hard for Axel to tell just what they were thinking. He was usually good at reading other peoples expressions—was once quite an expect at faking his own facades but now it suddenly felt like he had lost his skill. It felt strange and seeing the intense glow within their eyes made Axel feel ten times smaller than he already felt being in the same room as them. What else did they have to say? Were his words not satisfying enough?

"Are you fine with this arrangement?" Leon finally asked, his expression growing even more critical, serious in a manner that left Axel stiffening in a layer of cold sweat that accumulated within seconds across his brow.

"Yes, of course I am." Axel answered hastily.

"But for how long?" Cloud added.

Axel slowly began to arch a brow. "What do you mean?"

"Will you be okay with this forever?"

"What? No, well maybe?" Axel's gaze shifted downwards. Forever? "I mean of course I'd like the arrangement to change after a while, especially after we tell Lea the truth but we've only just came up with this plan today... W-why are you even asking me all this?"

"Because." Cloud got up from his chair. With his blue eyes trained on Axel, he rounded the table slowly until he stopped to lean down on his right, meeting his surprised gaze with a firm look of his own as they stood face to face. When Axel stared up at him, he felt himself become memorized by the Strife's shade of blue eyes. They were the same as Roxas' if only colder and harder to interpret. "It's important for you to think about not only Lea but of Roxas' feelings too." Cloud said firmly. "Just because Lea is your son doesn't mean it gives you the right to disregard the man who raised him up. Roxas will forever be connected to you, and I expect you to treat him and Lea with the upmost respect and love. Do you understand?"

Axel wanted to say yes but the words felt like they were trapped within his throat. This was definitely like one of those daddy encounters boys normally had when they met their girlfriend's dads for the first time and boy was it terrifying. Yet, what he didn't understand was why they were making it sound like he was asking for permission to date Roxas? He guessed it was similar but only because he and Roxas had a common goal, which was taking care of Lea.

Despite the loss of vocabulary, Axel opened his mouth to try and say something, even if it was just a ridiculous noise that was sure to embarrassment himself. Fortunately for him the sound of pattering feet caught all three of their attentions before he could give Cloud his reply.

"I'm ready for bed now!" Lea appeared with Roxas chasing after him.

"Hold still, your hair is still wet." Roxas said, draping a towel over the four year olds head in order to rub his head dry.

Seeing a towel hanging loosely around his shoulders, it was obvious to Axel that while giving Lea his bath, Roxas decided to take one for himself as well. The twenty-four year olds usual side swept tresses were flattened and damp, a sight he'd never seen before and Axel realized then, just how intimate their relationship was becoming as vice president and subordinate.

Roxas looked fresh, clean and smelled like strawberries—a rather feminine aroma that he usually considered odd for most men but on Roxas, it was rather fitting. Axel couldn't imagine the smell of axe or other masculine odors on the blond and seeing him dressed in a loose fitting shirt and sweats again made him wonder what it'd be like to have this image of Roxas writhing under him, squirming and moaning—if at all. There was no doubt now, that the beast inside of Axel Trenton was emerging upon seeing Roxas' in an ordinary state instead of being dressed as the groomed and proper assistant of White Fire Publishing's vice president.

The way Axel stared at his father left Lea speechless. It was a strange sight indeed. When he looked at his uncle Cloud for any sign of understanding the situation, the older blond looked just as perplexed as he did. He was betting that Axel wasn't even aware of his blatant staring resting on his oblivious father, so he figured, why not save the guy the trouble?

"Axel, you're drooling." The little redhead pointed to the corner of his mouth.

"Huh?"

It was then that Cloud wiped a bit of the trail of saliva of his mouth. Feeling the slimy texture between the pads of his fingers, Cloud felt the urge to punch the redhead in the face again. Roxas was still his younger brother after all and even if he knew how to fight his own battles, Cloud still felt a sense of duty to him, being the older of the two.

"Daddy! Stop drying my hair!" Lea began to whine. "It's fine the way it is!"

Halting his movements, Roxas took the towel away and poked his boy's cheek. "Alright, I'm done. You don't have to be so mean." He pouted.

Lea stuck his tongue out at him playfully before turning his attention towards the men still around their table. "Good night Uncle Leon! Good night Uncle Cloud! And good night Axel!" He said cheerfully.

"Good night Lea." The older couple replied.

"Alright, now go on. I'll meet you inside okay?" Roxas said, his fingers ruffling through the damp strands of redhead.

"Okay!"

With Lea out of sight, he settled his gaze on Axel who was still a little stunned. "Axel, do you want to read him his bed time story?"

Axel gasped softly, his eyes widening at the offer. He wasn't hearing things right? And the word, "What?" was spoken before he even realized it.

"Do you want to read Lea his bed time story?" Roxas repeated.

"Would you really let me?" Axel got up from his chair slowly. He almost didn't believe what was coming from between the man's lips.

There was a mixture of shock and happiness in Axel's gaze. Roxas could understand it and as he looked down at his feet, he felt the heat blossom in his cheeks. "If I didn't want you to, I wouldn't have asked you. Now hurry up, I'm not asking again and Lea's waiting. If he doesn't get his bed time stories soon, he gets fussy."

"Okay." Axel breathed and with Roxas leading the way, he followed him to his bedroom where they found Lea already sitting on the bed with a large book sitting in his lap.

Roxas went right up to the boy and took the book away only to hand it off to Axel. As Lea scooted back and kicked the covers to make room, Roxas lifted up the blanket for him and threw it gently over his small form. "All warm?" He asked, sitting down on the comforter.

"Yup, now are you going to read me my bedtime story?"

"Actually, I will." Axel said, settling himself down on the bed next to his assistant.

"You?" Lea blinked.

"Yeah! Your dad is letting me read to you, pretty cool huh?" He replied as he began flipping through the book. "So which story do you want me to read?"

"I want Sleeping Beauty!" Lea said, reaching over for his teddy bear that laid off to his right. Once he had the toy clutched in his hand, he brought it against his chest and embraced it tightly.

The sight of Lea hugging his bear just about melted his heart. It was also the same bear that he purchased weeks ago and Axel couldn't help but glance at Roxas for a moment with a smile on his face before looking back down at the book in his lap.

"Alright then… And, oh!" He stopped on the stories title page. "Sleeping Beauty." Wordlessly, Roxas turned the page for him. He made a noise of protest at first but once he saw the relaxed expression the blond wore, Axel's smile returned and he began to read. "Once upon a time a king and queen wished and wished for a child. At last their wish came true. A princess was born. The king and queen were very happy…"

It was a simple story. A lovely tale that lullabied the four year old to sleep by the time Axel reached the last page. Somewhere along the way of his storytelling, Axel was surprised to find his assistant resting his head against his shoulder. Roxas was tired, there was no mistake about that and he looked peaceful, too peaceful for Axel to want to get up and rouse his senses in order to take his leave but he had no choice. It was still a weekday.

"Roxas." He said, shaking him slightly.

"Hmm?" Roxas looked at him groggily.

"Lea's asleep." Axel pointed out. "And I'm pretty sure I need to go."

Removing himself carefully from off the bed, Roxas stretched his arms over his head and yawned. "Mm, I'll walk you to the door."

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Axel replied quietly and followed suit, placing the book carefully on the nearby desk.

As silently as they could, the pair tip toed out of the bedroom. Axel checked his pockets for his keys and finding that they were still there, he clutched them in his palm and trailed after his assistant to the front door. The moment he slipped his feet back into his slick black dress shoes, Axel felt himself falter. He realized that he didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay.

When Axel straightened back up again, he took a good long look at Roxas and could see him shifting on the heels of his feet. The blond didn't look pleased now that he was departing, especially when he wore such an evident frown. The odd feeling they were experiencing was a rather familiar sensation to Axel. In some aspects he could understand it but in another sense, he felt a chill run up his spine. He was stuck between wanting to embrace it and wanting to deny the internal battle swarming within his heart. It was much too soon for him to say anything though, he told himself repeatedly. Too early to reach that conclusion but he figured that with time there would still be a chance for him to tell if what he was undergoing was really true and that his growing affections could blossom into something more. He hoped so, especially when his emotions were twisting and turning in on itself the longer he stood there in the foyer with Roxas.

"Thanks for having me over." Axel said rather sheepishly.

Roxas shook his head. "It was no problem. I'll invite you again later and next time we'll have a real dinner, not pizza."

"Are you free this Friday then?" Axel asked.

"Y-yes, do you want to?..." Roxas' voice trailed off.

"Make dinner and watch a movie with Lea?" Axel finished the sentence for him, surprising not only himself but his assistant as well.

There was nothing to think about, nothing to consider when the words left Axel's mouth, and without another thought, Roxas said yes. He was blushing like mad seconds after he accepted, and when Axel squinted his green eyes to examine the dusty shade of pink on his cheeks, he grinned widely and just like Roxas he acted rashly and pecked the blonde's cheek.

"Call it payback for the incident in my car a couple of days ago." He whispered softly into Roxas' ear, his breath tickling the delicate hairs there.

It wasn't a surprise that Roxas' mind went blank afterwards. What was even more embarrassing for the twenty-four year old though, was that he could hardly register Axel waving goodbye to him and closing the door behind him as he shyly pressed a hand against the spot where the older man kissed him.

After a few moments of standing around and staring at the door; Roxas suddenly growled viciously, his face burning brightly. "T-that guy…" He clenched his fists tightly. "Why does he think he's the only one allowed to get the last word?! Argh! Stupid father of my child!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story they belong respectfully to Square Enix.
> 
> Music: "Lead Me" by Sistar

  
o0o0o0o  


Isa sat next to Lea on top of the monkey bars silently. It was recess and for the majority of their limited playtime, the little redhead had been staring off into space. There was no doubt on Isa's mind that the other boy was distracted by something and as his best friend; he felt that it was his right to know what was causing Lea's usual enthusiasm to wane so suddenly.

"Lea. Earth to Lea Strife." Isa said, waving his hand in front of the other's face.

The little redhead made no response. Isa found his friend's lack of reaction odd and he scrunched his nose with a bit of annoyance. Although Isa was a boy who possessed a rather splendid degree of patience for someone his age, he had very little tolerance when it came down to Lea which resulted in him giving the redhead's left ear a firm yank. It did just the trick and within seconds Lea was hounding loudly for him to let go.

"Isa that hurts!" Lea complained; rubbing his ear the instant his friend released him from his clutches.

"Then don't ignore me." Isa stated. "What's going on with you lately?"

"What do you mean?" Lea mumbled.

"You've been acting strange since Wednesday, or at least since my neighbor started showing up here with your father to pick you up." The boy said, his head tilting to the side in wonder.

"Oh, so you noticed?" Lea replied quietly all of a sudden.

His voice reminded Isa of a timid mouse. There was no need for him to feel so small after being confronted. "Of course I noticed, you're my best friend Lea and you can tell me anything. Now, what's wrong? Is something bothering you?"

Lea shifted his weight back and forth as he sat on the bars. Gripping the steel pipes around his fingers, he threw his head back to stare directly up at the graying skies. "I guess something is bothering me…"

"Like what?" Isa asked.

"My daddy and Axel."

"Did they do something to you?"

"No."

"Then what?"

Lea began to swing his legs into the air. "I feel like I haven't been spending enough time with my daddy anymore because Axel is always there."

Isa arched his brow at him. "You don't like Axel then?"

"No, I like him." Lea said quickly. "But he doesn't give daddy and me space. I want to spend time with my daddy without Axel being there so much." He frowned. It was true though; the older man was around them all the time. Ever since Axel showed up on Monday with his father, the week went from him having lunch with Roxas to going to the babysitter's and waiting for his uncles to pick him up to having lunch with Roxas and Axel at the office and being taken home at six and having the older redhead over for dinner. He was even taking over during his bedtime stories for goodness sakes! Despite being able to be within his father's presence more so than usual, he felt like Axel was intruding on them most of the time, and Roxas was letting him.

It was a very sudden change and though he didn't mind it the first time, Lea was starting to wonder if this was going to become a daily routine. The older man came out of nowhere and was invasive when it came to his personal time with his father and uncles. Just thinking about it made the boy puff out his cheeks. There was something going on between them and it wasn't just because Axel was his father's boss. He was sure of it. It was then that he had a thought and dread immediately erupted on his brooding countenance. "Wait! Do you think it's possible that my daddy and Axel are dating?!" Lea exclaimed suddenly.

Isa's jaw dropped. "Huh?..." It was very obvious how taken by surprise the other boy was as he stared at his friend with wide green eyes. "I—I don't know, maybe?" But Isa's words were not taken into consideration though and he went unheard.

"That must be why he's always around! Isa!" Lea whipped his head around; grabbing his friend by the shoulders he shook him frantically. "What do I do?!"

"Lea! Stop shaking me, you're going to make me fall down!" Isa shot back as he attempted to pry the other boy's hands off. "There may be another explanation! It isn't wise to jump to conclusions!"

"B-but…" He whined. "I don't want him and my daddy to date! It'll mean my daddy won't have time for me!"

Isa finally managed to push the redhead off from his persons. "Lea you're overreacting." He said. "It could be something else."

"Like what?" He sniffled.

"My father said that you and Axel look alike so maybe…" His voice trailed off a little but before he could say anything more, Lea was instantly glaring daggers at him.

"No! I already have a daddy and it's not Axel!"

Isa sighed. There was no use arguing with him, especially when his mind was made up. He remembered earlier in the week; on Tuesday while he was distracting Lea for Roxas and his father that the two adults were discussing something important. He didn't catch the conversation, but he recalled his father making a few unconscious remarks about Axel being an irresponsible parent. Roxas defended him of course and it didn't take much for him to figure out the rest. Though Isa had been a little shocked at first, he understood the complexity of the situation regardless. All he was waiting for now was for Lea to learn the truth himself but it looked like it was going to take some work since he wasn't too keen on accepting his words at the moment.

"I'm sorry Lea, I wasn't thinking. Can you forgive me?"

Lea stared at his friend with a blank expression. He wasn't quick to give Isa a reply and instead he looked straight down at the ground below them, his green eyes studying the abundance of raw bark chips that littered the entire playground. All around them, he could hear the other children laughing, running and playing. He should be having fun too, just like them but his mind was on other things—things that were beginning to make his heartache the more he pondered on the topic silently.

Isa grew concerned at his friend's silence. This wasn't like Lea at all. If he was upset, the redhead would normally mask his sadness so as not to worry others but now, it seemed like he didn't have the energy to do even that. Was it his fault Isa wondered? Feeling the guilt rise within the pits of his stomach, he looked down dejectedly at the ground just the same as Lea.

It was going to be a long day.

"I'm sorry, Lea." Isa said one last time before Ms. Farron and her helper Vanille announced that it was time for them to return to class.

  
o0o0o0o  


"I almost forgot!" Roxas pulled out an envelope from one of the pockets in his suitcase. Checking it for any signs of damage, he found none and handed it off to Axel with ease.

"What's this?" Axel questioned, turning the envelope this way and that.

"An invitation to Lea's birthday, he's turning five on the tenth which is next week. Have you already forgotten?"

"N-no! Of course I haven't forgotten!" Axel exclaimed nervously. The slight hesitation in his voice was enough for Roxas' suspensions to arise and he gave the redhead a hard look. It made Axel shift nervously on his desk and before long he looked down at his lap in shame. "Okay, it slipped my mind."

"I thought so." Roxas muttered and crossed his arms. "It's on a Saturday, do you think you can make it?"

"I'm supposed to have lunch that day with my old man but it's Lea's birthday, and I'm not willing to let four missed birthdays turn into five. I'm going, just need to reschedule with Genesis and hopefully he won't be too angry with me." Axel said as he shoved his hand into the depths of his pocket to pull out his handy dandy PDA.

Roxas watched him with a ghost of a smile floating across his lips. The speed of which the redhead was texting impressed him, as well as the burning determination in his eyes. He was glad Axel cared about Lea; it made him remarkably happy that he was putting in so much effort to spend time with him. Not many people were willing to go through the trouble and he was grateful that Axel was giving it his all.

Tonight was going to be their dinner/movie night with Lea. Roxas had been looking forward to it all week and he made sure to tell Cloud and Leon repeatedly to be out of the apartment for the entire evening so that Axel, Lea and he could have the place all to themselves. It was almost like a date, but to Roxas it was going to be ten times better, he was sure of it. He tried his hardest not to make himself look too excited but according to Cloud, he failed at controlling himself and mentally he would dance around in his head at the prospect. His excitement showed on his face too and whenever Cloud managed to catch him off guard, the older Strife always had one or two things to say about it.

"About tonight…" Roxas brought up. "What should we make for dinner?"

"Well, what do you feel like eating?" Axel asked after double checking his message and sending it off. Laying the device flat on his assistant's desk, he crouched forward a little, looking down at the blond as he crossed one leg and laid it on top of the other.

It'd been quite some time since he last witnessed the predatory glint in the redhead's green eyes. Roxas quivered under the older man's intense gaze, whining quietly under his breath as Axel inched closer towards him. His voice felt stuck, and he was tempted to reply with the word, 'you' as a sort of joke but he was sure the older man would take it literally and Roxas feared for the worst if that were the case. So he decided not to say anything at all. Instead, he masked his apprehensive countenance with what he thought looked like an expression of contemplation. As long as it looked like he was thinking about what kind of dish to make, Roxas felt safe enough but the longer Axel kept his eyes on him the more he felt his resolve begin to falter.

'Hamburgers? Hotdogs? Barbeque? Potato Salad? Wait, that's a side!' The blonde's mind screamed.

"Roxas?" Axel said slowly, the blonde's name rolling off his tongue delicately.

Hearing the sound of his name being called, Roxas hesitantly lifted his gaze up, meeting the other's mesmerizing stare. The redhead looked composed all of a sudden. The glint was still there but it had simmered down; changed into something else and Roxas couldn't explain what he was seeing now but he wanted to know what it was. He wanted to know what was going through the other's mind. He couldn't stop himself from leaning up to the other's face and just as their noses touched; Roxas halted his advances and squeezed his eyes shut. Was this it? Was Axel feeling the same way he wondered?

Axel had been vaguely aware from the start how receptive Roxas was becoming towards him lately. It was pleasing in more ways than one and he found himself attracted to the blond even more than before. He wanted to dive in head first, it was how he normally did things but he'd been telling himself repeatedly to take it slowly as of late. It was the right thing to do after all but from the way the blond was responding to him now made it incredibly difficult for him to think let alone control himself. They were in a delicate situation after all and things needed to be approached carefully.

As he watched Roxas make the first move, similar to the incident in his car, Axel was more than certain that he was screwed. Logic and reasoning be damned, if Roxas Strife was going to close the gap between them, Axel was going to cross that bridge without another thought!

Just as the two of them were drawing close together, the sound of Axel's PDA vibrating loudly against his desk brought them out of their trance with a gasp. Axel growled afterwards with a curse or two at having their moment ruined but Roxas felt otherwise. He'd been saved by the bell and he released a short sigh of relief as he swerved in his chair to face the wide window while the redhead next to him was busy reading his new text message.

It'd been a close call for the both of them that's for sure.

Skimming through the text on his screen, Axel glared down at the device hatefully. Just as he'd thought, Genesis wasn't happy. He could already imagine the look on the man's face and though he was sorry to disappoint his old man, Axel's growing responsibility for Lea was his top priority aside from the company. He was still young and in his prime; he didn't see a point in participating in his father's game of playing matchmaker for him. An argument was bound to happen soon, Axel was sure of it but he didn't care—his father and Angeal could go to hell he thought to himself.

The fierce look that Axel displayed made Roxas frown in concern; something was definitely up and if he could, he wanted to be of some use to Axel other than being his son's adopted father and his assistant. Pushing his chair back, he stood up straight and tried to see what the redhead was glaring at since he looked absorbed by the message. But once Axel felt his presence, he moved his PDA away from his view and glowered at him.

"This isn't something you should get involved in." Axel said, as he slipped the device back into his pocket. Hopping off of his assistant's desk, he glanced at his watch briefly and hummed. "I believe it's time for us to pick Lea up. Shall we go?"

"Y-yeah." Roxas replied, his mind still reeling in on the redhead's unsavory attitude about the message. He felt rather put off now. If Axel wasn't going to talk about it than fine but he didn't have to give him such an attitude, Roxas thought to himself as his lips formed a pout.

Gathering up his things, Roxas looked up to find Axel already waiting for him by the door. He was anxious to go; there was no mistake about it. Packing up his suitcase quickly, he hurried over to Axel's side and opened the door before the redhead could wrap his hand around the knob for them.

Axel was a little stunned, but seeing that the door was opened for him, he shrugged and went on ahead with Roxas following steadily behind him.

"Look, I'm sorry about… you know, a minute or two ago but it's nothing to worry about okay?" Axel said. 'Nothing to worry about yet.' He thought to himself. "Maybe later I'll tell you, but right now I don't want to think about it."

"It's fine, I get it. I shouldn't get involved if it doesn't concern me. However, if it does start to bother you, I'm here to listen."

"Heh, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for your understanding Roxy." Axel said as he smiled softly at the blonde's offer.

"You're welcome…" He replied quietly. "But, you are coming to Lea's birthday right?" He asked carefully.

"Yes." Axel said firmly. "Regardless of what Genesis says, I'm going to be there, I promise."

Finding themselves standing in front of the elevators, Roxas didn't bother stopping himself from staring at his boss so blatantly with wide blue eyes. It was rude, he knew that but something told him that there was more going on that Axel wasn't telling him. In any case, he figured that he probably wasn't going to get very much out of him now but he felt certain that with some time his superior would break and tell him eventually. At least he was going to be there to celebrate their boy's fifth birthday, that was what mattered the most to Roxas and a smile grew across his lips just thinking about it.

Once they heard that all too familiar ding, the doors to the elevator opened and the pair stepped inside. Standing on Axel's right, Roxas looked down at his feet and then took a deep breath. "By the way, I think spaghetti would be nice. For dinner, I mean." He said, causing the redhead to give him a side glance.

Seeing him smile shyly, Axel couldn't help but chuckle as he watched the doors close shut. "Alright, then spaghetti it is. With meatballs and garlic bread too."

  
o0o0o0o  


The moment Roxas walked through the doors of Lea's classroom, the little redhead bolted from where he stood waiting for him next to Isa and Saix by the cubbies. He hugged his father tightly around his legs, burying his face into the fabric of his dark slacks. Roxas was more than a little stunned at first by the boy's sudden actions and he kneeled down to the four year olds level. Combing his fingers carefully into the boy's thick red hair, Roxas noticed the furrowing of his son's brow and became worried. When Lea looked up to meet his gaze, the boy raised his arms up and stood on the tips of his toes, wanting for his father to lift him up.

"Do you want me to carry you?" Roxas asked with a soft smile.

Lea nodded his head yes with an obvious pout on his face. He was getting impatient.

Cupping the side of the little redhead's face, Roxas brushed his thumb gently against his cheek. It wasn't difficult for him to take notice of the gloomy little cloud that hung over his son's head and it caused his worry to deepen the more he stared at the boy's dejected form.

Feeling himself finally being lifted up, Lea instantly wrapped his little arms around his father's neck tightly and proceeded to press and hide his face into the crook of the blonde's neck. He wanted so desperately to feel safe again and he didn't want to think about the assumptions he came to earlier. As Roxas turned around and began to leave the room, Lea peeked over his father's shoulder only to wave goodbye to his best friend. He knew by now that Axel could be found waiting for them outside the building and once he caught a glimpse of the man's vibrant red hair, he hid his face again and clung even tighter to Roxas than before.

"Hey little guy!" Axel said rather excitedly but Lea didn't look up at him. Tilting his head with a bit of confusion, Axel looked to Roxas for an explanation of some sorts but the blond merely shook his head, leaving the redhead frowning slightly. "Is something wrong Lea?" He asked, his hand reaching out to touch the boy's shoulder.

Lea gasped from the older man's touch and within seconds, he tried to shake off the redhead's hand. His grasp around Roxas became a near death grip and he quivered in his arms as small tears began to collect at the edges of his eyes. "No! No! No!" He wailed suddenly.

"L-Lea!" Roxas struggled to keep the boy steady. "What's wrong?"

"No! No! No!" The four year old repeated loudly.

With some help from Axel, the two adults led their son over to the nearest bench just outside of the preschool's premises. Lea still clung as tightly as ever to Roxas and he refused to give the older redhead a second glance though it did pain Axel to be ignored by him. His father's touch against his back was soothing and he sniffled quietly while still hiding his sad expression from the both of them. They probably couldn't understand him and he wanted to cry even more just thinking about it but he knew that he wouldn't, at least not with Axel around. Only Roxas was ever allowed to see him in such a vulnerable state.

Seeing how much of an effect Axel was having on Lea, it was easy for Roxas to determine that the cause of his son's upset was the older man himself. He didn't understand why but judging by how unresponsive Lea was being towards the both of them, he knew that it would be better to send the older redhead ahead of them even though it was easy for him to predict that Axel would be saddened by his request. Still it had to be done if he wanted to get to the bottom of things.

"Hey, Axel do you think you could pick up some food for us? I'll meet you back at the office and then the three of us can have lunch together, okay?" Roxas smiled up at him but Axel's façade instantly crossed between a mixture of hurt and understanding. He knew he was being sent away.

With the wretched emotions swimming deep inside of him, Axel was reluctant to do as he was told. But one long glance down at Lea told him that it was for the best and he sighed, knowing in the back of his mind that whatever was going on with the boy was probably his fault. "S-sure, I can do that." He said in a soft murmur. "Is Chinese takeout fine?"

Roxas nodded his head. "Yeah, just like on Monday. Oh, and don't forget extra napkins this time."

"Alright, I'll see you two in a bit." Axel said, getting up slowly. Looking down at Roxas briefly, his eyes fell back on Lea and he reached down to give the boy's fiery hair a quick ruffle. "See you soon, tiger."

Lea didn't say anything though and he shrank back from Axel's touch yet again. Hearing the older redhead sigh miserably, he waited for him to leave and once his footsteps were out of earshot he looked up to find Roxas frowning down at him. Lea suddenly felt ten times worse under his father's disappointed gaze and he felt guilty for treating the other man so poorly when all he was trying to do was be nice and make him happy in every way possible. Within seconds Lea's lips began to tremble and a fresh abundance of new tears began to roll off his cheeks.

Placing a hand behind his son's head, Roxas pressed the boy's face back down against his chest as he started to rock his body from side to side. Lea whimpered loudly and he hummed quietly, coddling him with kisses from his hairline to his chin as he smoothed down the short spikes of red hair that framed his face with a gentle hand.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine." Roxas sang quietly into his ear. "You make me happy when skies are gray. You never know dear, how much I love you. So please don't take my sunshine away."

His song continued on in a soft hum as a moment of silence settled upon them. Lea cuddled as closely as possible into his father's lap, crying shakily into his shoulder. With well-practiced patience, Roxas waited out the storm and with time his rocking eventually subsided as well as the four year olds weeping. All that was left was a whimper or two from Lea but Roxas didn't care so long as his son was able to release all of his frustrations out one way or another.

When Lea was finally able to compose himself again, if only just; he lifted his gaze up hesitantly, his vision still blurry. "A-Am I your only sunshine?" Lea asked with a broken voice.

"My one and only, Lea." Roxas replied, his lips pressing against the redhead's hairline once more.

"What about A-Axel?"

"Axel?" Roxas tilted his head.

"Is he going to be your sunshine too?" Lea asked, looking down nervously.

Hearing the innocent question, Roxas found himself staring off to the side as he took a sharp intake of the cold winter air. When he turned back to look into his son's face, he saw a mixture of fear and confusion in the boy's eyes. He was insecure and very much afraid; it was easy for Roxas to tell. He had a vague guess as to why though, but he didn't want to just to conclusions and settled on asking the boy instead. "What makes you believe that?"

Lea kept his gaze lowered, lips turning up into another frown that sat on the edge of trembling again into another cry session. His reason's seemed rather childish—selfish to a degree but it made him apprehensive and scared. That was what mattered and he hoped that his father would understand more than anything about how he felt. "Well, h-he's always around a-and, and it sometimes feels like he's taking you away from me…" He finally admitted.

"Oh Lea…"

"I don't want him to take you away from me!" He cried out loud this time, causing Roxas' eyes to widen at the realization.

Roxas held him close again and cooed. It explained a lot now that he thought about it. Lea felt neglected and scared of losing him. It made sense to Roxas and he felt the shame wash over him instantly. He should have paid more attention he told himself as he continued to coo softly. "He's not taking me away. No one can take me away from you, Lea. You're my sunshine." He chuckled into his hair. "And I promised you, didn't I? That I would never leave you and I won't." He said, pulling back a little so that he could press their foreheads together.

"Never ever, ever?" Lea asked, whimpering again as he began to cry once more.

"Never, ever, ever, ever, ever." Roxas replied, nuzzling into the boy's button nose. "After your birthday, I'll tell you a secret okay? And then, hopefully you'll understand."

Lea's green hues lit up suddenly despite a few tears glistening at the edges of his eyes. "A secret?" He asked.

"Yes, a secret." Roxas placed a finger to his lips. "But you have to promise me two things though."

"What? What is it?"

"First, when we get back, you have to apologize to Axel. He was very hurt by how you treated him." He watched Lea nod his head slowly. "And second, I will tell you after your birthday so you've got to wait a couple of days. Do you understand?"

Lea replayed the words over and over in his head several times. He was anxious about having to apologize but he knew he would do it regardless. The waiting was also possible but now that Roxas had put the thought of being told a special secret into his head, Lea wondered just how he'd be able to survive until then. Groaning long and hard, he squeezed his eyes shut tightly, his head shaking furiously from side to side. Roxas found it rather comical and he laughed softly as he watched his son go about his strange ways.

Wiping the remnants of his tears away with the back of his hand, Lea nodded his head immediately afterwards. "I—I'll do it! I'll tell Axel that I'm sorry and I'll wait! You just have to promise not to forget to tell me! Okay daddy?"

"Don't worry, I promise..." Roxas murmured as he pressed his lips firmly against the boy's temple.

  
o0o0o0o  


The atmosphere in the lobby felt unnaturally bizarre to Roxas the moment he entered the building with Lea in hand. Sure, there were a few stragglers wandering about on the first floor, glancing his way and eying him briefly but he couldn't shake off the feeling that he and his son were being watched. It was quite a scary thought really, and to be on the safe side, he carried Lea in his arms and walked briskly towards the elevators.

Just as the doors were preparing to close and take him and his son up to the top floor, a hand shot out suddenly; catching the elevator just in time. It left Roxas literally jumping back from the shock with a gasp and Lea yelped loudly from his abrupt movements as he pressed himself up against the wall of the elevator shaft.

His heart was racing rapidly, so fast that Roxas was sure that he wouldn't be surprised if the beating organ decided to burst out from his chest. Watching the doors slide open again, his blue eyes widened at the sight of a tall, lanky man with an impressive ponytail of red hair in a black suit with his jacket unbuttoned and his dress shirt untucked. He made a small noise in disgust at the man's indecent manner of styling such professional attire and noted the goggles that he wore on his head. The smirk he wore as he crept right in like nobody's business left Roxas glaring but the blond held his tongue as best he could.

"Yo, going up too I hope?" The unnamed redhead asked.

"I was, obviously…" Roxas said that last part under his breath. "Until you tried to throw yourself in here from out of the blue." He replied with a slight growl in his voice.

"Whoops, sorry about that." He said with a sneer and in that moment Roxas felt a sudden sensation of deja vu overcome him. It proved to deepen his dislike of the mysterious man even more and so he scooted towards the corner where he felt it was furthest away from the redhead's presence.

That was a mistake he hadn't been prepared for.

The glow from the floor button that Roxas had previously pressed on was still present. Though the light was faint, the redhead pressed down on it again for him and afterwards decided to move off to the side and stand right next to the blond in the elevator. It was much too close for anyone's comfort in Roxas' mind and he seethed dangerously at their close proximity. Was the guy doing this on purpose?!

His mental state went haywire as he watched the doors close. Now, Lea and him were alone with the guy… He groaned inwardly, cursing above and beyond to whatever deity was listening to his distress.

Roxas longed for their short trip in the elevator to be fast and silent as hell but no amount of hoping could stop fate from doing the exact opposite of what he wanted. Life was just too cruel to him sometimes and he made a pained expression the moment he heard the redhead begin to speak.

"Top floor huh?" The man asked.

Great, he wanted to make small talk and Roxas gritted his teeth at this.

"Uh-huh!" Lea nodded his head. "We're going to have lunch with my daddy's boss!"

Roxas couldn't believe how quick his son was to start talking to a total stranger. His mouth gaped open just listening to the boy chirp.

"Really now?" He smiled.

"Mmhmm!"

"What's your name kid?"

'Don't say it, please don't say it…' Roxas prayed but his hopes were smashed in an instant yet again. His boy just loved meeting new people, and he couldn't penalize him for being a social butterfly no matter how much he detested their current situation and the unruly male next to them.

"Lea Strife!"

"Strife huh?" The man grinned, his gaze turning towards Roxas. "You wouldn't happen to be related to Cloud? Would you blondie?"

Roxas' glare intensified tenfold. He felt insulted to be called blondie by the complete stranger and to make the redhead's offense clear to him, he gave the man a hard look—one that would no doubt have the power to kill… if only… "He's my older brother, why do you ask?" He questioned rather sharply.

The redhead was hardly prepared for the killer glare that was thrown his way and he felt his blood run cold as a result. "Whoa! I mean absolutely no harm by it!" He laughed nervously. "I was just curious! The kid said Strife and looking at you, I can tell that you're somehow related to Cloud that's all!"

"Sure you were..." Roxas started talking as he continued to hold his glare firmly but the sound of the familiar ding from above stopped him from continuing any further. He was literally saved by the bell, thank goodness.

Watching the doors finally open for them at long last, Roxas pushed past the man roughly. It was his fault for standing too close though, and he gave the redhead one last scowl before speed walking the hell out of the elevator and down the hall to his destination.

Unfortunately, the man had other plans and was not about to let the twenty-four year olds rudeness slide so easily. Before Roxas realized it, the redhead was hightailing after him and Lea swiftly much to Roxas' shock.

"Excuse me, but don't you have anything better to do other than following my son and I?!" Roxas finally shouted at him, his patience hanging dangerously by a thread.

"Actually, we're headed in the same direction." He smirked. "So don't think that you're off the hook just yet, blondie." He said on purpose this time.

Roxas' voice hitched as Lea made an 'Uh-oh' sound. The boy was well aware of how nasty of a temper his father had and he shook his head in dismay at the other man's mistake for trying to provoke the blond Strife of all people.

If they had been anywhere else but his workplace, Roxas would have made doubly sure to rectify the redhead's mistake for deliberately annoying him. But alas, this wasn't the best place to lose his temper and he swallowed down his pride as the man walked on ahead and opened the office doors. It sucked, it really sucked! He already had a reputation for being a nag and though his temper was legendary throughout the entire building—pummeling a total stranger would be considered beyond crazy even for him.

"Axel guess whose here!" The man sang loudly as he burst through the double doors with Roxas and Lea trailing awkwardly behind him.

The said redhead gave out a pained moan and pinched the bridge of his nose. Of all people it had to be… "Reno… What are you doing here?"

"What? Am I not allowed to visit my baby brother?"

"B-brother?" Roxas choked, his eyes darting back and forth between the two men. It was no wonder why he felt a sense of familiarity about the guy.

Lea just blinked. Innocent as ever, he tugged lightly on his father's shirt with a curious glow in his eyes. "Daddy I just noticed that Axel, that guy and me have the same red hair."

'Shit.' Roxas mentally hissed. This was not the way that he wanted to tell Lea the truth and he looked up at Axel almost desperately for his help.

Seeing that his assistant was unable to come up with an explanation, Axel got up quickly from his desk and walked over towards the three. "Hey, you two hurry up and start eating before the food gets cold!" He pointed at the blond. "I'm going to talk to Reno real quick so you can start eating without me." He said with a laugh, ushering Roxas and his son to the black leather couch and matching coffee table on the other side of the room.

Roxas nodded his head, mouthing a silent thank you however Lea was not as oblivious as he seemed and caught a glimpse of the two's exchange.

Smiling briefly at the pair, Axel then turned his attention to his older brother who stood there smirking silently at the display. Narrowing his eyes at him, Axel's grin was wiped clean off within seconds and he proceeded to leave the room, dragging Reno none too gently along with him.

"What are you doing here?" Axel asked him again with a hiss once they were back out into the hallway.

"It should be obvious why I'm here." Reno replied.

Before long, Axel found an empty conference room and without thinking he threw his brother inside and shut the door closed behind them. "Alright, start talking Reno."

The older of the two staggered but he managed to catch himself just in time with a few hops on his right leg. Giving Axel a frown, Reno shook his head as he dusted himself off lightly after being handled so roughly. "Dad's not happy, so I'm playing errand boy for him today."

Axel crossed his arms. "Obviously."

"I was also following the rumors that have been spreading around here. Dad knows since I've been looking into everything for him and I also wanted to see for myself if it was true." Reno said; his posture straightening up as he wore a serious expression much like his younger brother. There was no laughing now. "Lea Strife huh? He looks just like you when you were a kid."

"I know…" Axel murmured. "What does the old man think about the situation?"

"I already told you, he's not happy." Reno sighed. "And he's even more pissed that you're skipping out on next Saturday's matchmaking session. Come on bro, Xion isn't that bad!"

"But that isn't why I'm canceling!"

"Then what is it?"

"Lea is turning five on the tenth..." Axel admitted grudgingly and took a deep breath. "How was I supposed to tell dad about my son's birthday being on the same day as the matchmaking when I haven't even told him about what's been going on? I mean, the son I thought I would never have has been alive this entire time and the person raising him has been my assistant all along! What am I supposed to say to him Reno?" He sighed heavily, growling slightly as he felt a rise in frustration just thinking about their father. "If I tell him, he'll probably take matters into his own hands and try to take Lea away from Roxas!" It was then that he looked up at his older brother as the thought truly dawned on him. "He's going to do it isn't he, Reno?"

The older man just shrugged. Axel hated his reaction and he couldn't help but glare at how insensitive he was being. "I don't know, he didn't say. Probably kept that bit of information to himself since he probably knew I would tip you off and I would. Lea is your son, not our father's." He declared, making it clear that regardless of his duties, he was still on his younger brother's side. "Still, I can't help but wonder why you haven't told the kid the truth yet. Is it because he's still young? That's it isn't it?"

"Well, of course. He's still four years old y'know." Axel said. "That and the fact that Roxas wants Lea and I to establish a familiar relationship with each other before we drop the bomb on him... Makes sense though, I mean can you imagine what his reaction would be if I suddenly told him that I was his real dad?"

"He'd probably have a heart attack."

"Exactly and the last thing I want to do is piss off the man who raised my son." Axel sighed as he dropped himself down into the nearest chair. "Roxas absolutely adores Lea, he'd do just about anything to make him happy…" He mumbled. "He's temperamental but it's worth pushing his buttons sometimes…"

Reno chuckled quietly at the dreamy air that suddenly surrounded his younger brother. It was quite a fascinating sight really and the way he talked about the blond left him wondering just how much Axel had changed since the last time they had seen each other. "He's quite a charmer isn't he? That assistant of yours.

"He sure is… Even if he can be a pain in the ass, he has a unique charm to him indeed…" Axel replied unconsciously.

"You didn't think twice about saying that just now did you?" Reno flicked his forehead. "Cupid went and shot you with his arrow of love a week too early yo."

Axel flinched back and began rubbing the area where his brother grazed him. "What? No, I'm just—"

"Admit it." Reno interjected as he waved his finger in a rather scolding manner. "You've been hooked, lined and sinkered by Roxas Strife."

"Reno don't twist my words!" Axel pushed himself back up onto his feet, standing toe to toe with his older brother. "It's not like that—well I mean I'm attracted to him but it's too soon and he's Lea's adopted father!" He insisted but it was then that the redhead began to question if whether or not he was just making up excuses for himself. It hadn't been too long ago that he was still trying to get into Roxas' pants and to see himself reduced to that of a teenager in denial instead of his usual arrogant self, left Axel completely speechless.

Reno saw the way Axel backed down. The younger was contemplating his next words but Reno didn't feel like giving his younger brother the chance to deny his feelings if that's what he was planning to do. "I'm not twisting your words at all bro! I just wanted to make it clear to you how gaga you looked just talking about him. I mean, I completely understand if you actually do like him and stuff! After all his brother is just as erratic and hot as he is, even though he's already married to Leon… but he's still attractive all around." He purred, a smirk pulling at the corners of his lips as an idea struck him. "Say, if you really are implying that you're not interested in pursuing him, would you mind if I gave it a shot?"

All thought process ceased and whatever Axel was thinking about at that moment was gone in an instant. Before he knew what he was about to say, Axel stared at his older brother threateningly as the words left his mouth. "Absolutely not! He's off limits so keep your grimy hands off of him!"

"Oh, so you do like him." Reno teased.

"Yes! Wait! Reno!" Axel exclaimed. He was ready to wring his brother's neck like a chicken.

"Calm down would ya?" He laughed. "It's okay if you like him. I'm not judging you."

"You're not, but the old man will." Axel seethed. "I bet you're going to tell him about all of this, aren't you?"

"You know I have to." Reno sighed. "Even if I don't want to, I'm just doing my job."

"Tck, whatever." Axel murmured bitterly. "Mom just had to marry a criminal…"

"Hey, hey if she didn't we wouldn't have been born!" Reno pointed out.

"Please don't even get me started…" Axel warned as he released yet another heavy sigh. "Look, just go already. You got what you came for and now I just want to go back to my office and have lunch with my son and Roxas before getting back to my work and having a dinner date with them later."

"Dinner date huh?"

"Shit…"

"Don't deny it Axel, you like this one and you like him a lot, regardless of the fact that he's been a father to your son this entire time." Reno chimed. Back tracking towards the door, he stopped just shy of twisting the knob and letting himself out. "Just so you know, Genesis isn't going to let this go. I don't know what he's planning but I suggest that you prepare yourself for whatever it is Axel." Glancing over his shoulder, he gave the younger redhead a sympathetic look before leaving the room all together. "I'll probably see you soon, so take care."

He looked down slowly at the carpeted floor. "Yeah… You too, Reno."

And the older of the two was gone just like that.

Now that he was alone, Axel groaned loudly with irritation, his mind still reeling in over his brother's warning. This was merely the calm before the storm. He knew that and he dreaded the possibilities that could be in store for him, Roxas and Lea.

There was a battle just waiting to be fought on the horizon and Axel wasn't sure about how he was going to counter the first wave of attacks. It was a frightening thought and he could only imagine what Roxas' reaction would be since he knew the younger man was still waiting for him with Lea back in the office. Knowing his assistant, Axel was sure that he would be getting more than just an earful today and that made him groan even more. Which was worse? His father's wrath? Or Roxas Strife?


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story they belong respectfully to Square Enix.
> 
> Music: "Bella Notte" from Lady and the Tramp
> 
> A/N: It's been months! And I'm so sorry about the wait! ); I'm just going to jump right into this kay? Enjoy the long awaited chapter 10

Axel was reluctant to leave the safety of the empty conference room. He was almost afraid to face his assistant but he knew from experience that his father was an even greater force to be reckoned with compared to the short tempered blond. Axel had to face the music sooner or later regardless and with a heavy sigh, he trudged back to his office with hidden despair.

When Axel stepped back into the room, he was surprised to find Roxas and Lea seated at the couch waiting for him silently, their lunches still left untouched. As he headed straight towards the pair, he noted the contemplative look his son wore and arched a brow at him. Was he still upset about earlier he wondered?

Settling down right next to the four year old, Axel smiled softly at him, pushing his negative thoughts away into the back of his mind as best he could. "Hey, what's up kiddo? Why haven't you eaten your food yet?"

Peering up at the older man, Lea bit his bottom lip only to look back down at his lap nervously. "Well…" He started to say but the words suddenly became caught in his throat and he ended up leaving his sentence unfinished as he twiddled his thumbs and squirmed in place. Lea still felt guilty for his behavior; it had been wrong of him to act the way he did and though he was being given a chance to redeem himself—it was turning out to be a much harder task than he first realized.

To Axel, it was rather odd to watch his son fidget in his seat as he made a series of pouts and frowns. It almost reminded him of constipation and he made a slight noise of discomfort for him. When he looked over at Roxas, the blond was frowning as well for but a split second at the display however he seemed to have a much better grasp of their son's thoughts than Axel did. Eventually, Roxas shook his head, lips turning up into a faint smile and before Axel knew what he was doing, Roxas was already throwing an arm around the four year old and holding him close against his side.

"He didn't want to eat." Roxas said for him, seeing as how hesitant Lea was to talk. "He told me that he wanted to wait for you so that we could have lunch together." He added, his hand moving up to ruffle the boy's hair playfully.

"Really?" Axel perked up. "Well isn't that sweet."

"Daddy…" Lea pouted, resulting in another tousle of his red hair; this time from both of the older men.

"You know it's true Lea. Don't try to make up excuses." Roxas tapped the end of his nose gently before releasing a soft chuckle.

Watching the pair laugh, Lea realized then just how happy Roxas had truly become. He couldn't remember a time that he'd seen his father glow as brightly as he did now other than when they were together as a family. Seeing the way he had been interacting with Axel for the past week up until now made Lea begin to think twice about the two of them dating. It shouldn't be that bad, right?

Axel was really nice to him. He was funny and incredibly attentive as well. Even with Roxas, he had a playful air to him but it still had its differences as Lea compared it to the manner of which the redhead treated him. Although Lea witnessed the man tease his father from time to time, it never came out maliciously and even when Roxas showed a spark of annoyance, he saw the way he would smile coyly afterwards. It was incredibly subtle, almost unnoticeable but the change was as clear as day to the little boy no matter how his father's actions appeared like normal.

They looked relatively happy together, there was no mistake about that. Seeing the way the two adults' gazes flickered between each other and then back down at him, Lea couldn't help but imagine the three of them being together like this forever. He then remembered Roxas' assurance earlier—his place in the man's heart was already permanent and secured so the thought of sharing his father with the older redhead didn't seem as bad anymore so long as Axel treated them both with the upmost care. And space! Space would be greatly appreciated, he thought quickly.

As Lea laid his head against Roxas' waist again, he clenched his fists into the blonde's jacket and tugged lightly on the material. It was now or never. "Daddy? Axel?" He said, pressing his face harder into the blonde's side.

"Yes Lea?"

"I'm sorry for being mean today." Lea became flustered as the words left his mouth. He felt lucky that his face was hidden from their views because he wouldn't know what to do if they saw him in such a state.

"Hey, no need to apologize." Axel said. "We all have off days."

Suddenly looking up at the older redhead, Lea made a face at him. "I know but saying sorry is the right thing to do for what I did!" He objected. "That's what my daddy taught me!"

Axel stared at him silently, blinking once or twice. One stray glance towards Roxas was enough to set him straight, and he smiled softly at the boy's persistent behavior. "Your daddy taught you very well. If it makes you happy, I accept your apology Lea."

"G-good!" Lea replied with a chirp. When he turned to look up at his father again, he pawed his arm gently. "Daddy!"

"Yes Lea?" Roxas asked.

The boy hesitated at first, but once he was able to set his worries aside, he grinned proudly, surprising Roxas a little. "As long as I'm your number one then it's okay for you to date Axel!"

A defiant silence filled the room and suddenly, all Roxas could hear was white noise in the seconds that followed after Lea's declaration. The boy looked triumphant, positive in fact and he didn't know what to say so he kept his mouth shut as his face began to redden with embarrassment.

Axel was no better off either and though he too wore a rather flushed expression himself, it wasn't enough to deter him from releasing a short bit of laughter. "Well that's a shock, isn't it Roxas?" He joked but the blond remained silent, wide eyes casted downwards. "Still, thank you, thank you Lea." Axel said, trying to control the onslaught of giggles still tickling within him as a strange warmth filled his being.

Today was just full of surprises he concluded and it was hardly the end of the day. Barely an hour had passed since the thought of actually committing himself to Roxas crossed Axel's mind. Sure, it was an idea but he was still uncertain of how well the blond would perceive his advances now that Lea was giving him his approval. Still, his son's words were encouraging and if he could win him over just a little more then maybe, just maybe things could work out between them. "Thank you for your blessing, it really means a lot." He concluded, eyes softening at the four year old boy.

"W—wait a minute!" Roxas said, finally finding his voice. "Don't I get a say in this?"

"But you like Axel, don't you daddy?" Lea asked as he became perplexed by the blonde's reaction. He was being considerate, wasn't he? Roxas deserved to be happy after all.

"Of course I like Axel, but Lea!—"

"Then it's settled!" The redhead cut in unexpectedly. No way was he going to let his assistant try to talk his way out of this one.

"But I—!"

"Roxas." Axel said his name firmly this time, successfully shutting the blonde's mouth. "Are you blatantly forgetting our plans for tonight?"

"Of course not!" He hissed, cheeks glowing even brighter now.

"What about tonight?" Lea asked slowly, feeling even more confused than he did before.

That was right, they hadn't told Lea about dinner, Axel thought to himself. "Well, your dad, you and I are going to make dinner for the three of us and we're going to watch a movie together. Is that alright with you?"

"So, it's like a date?" Lea tilted his head.

Axel nodded. "Basically."

When Lea looked back up at his father again, he seemed a bit put off. "Why didn't you tell me we were all going to be on a date?"

"I uh…" Roxas blinked. "It was supposed to be a surprise for you!" He thought up quickly.

It took a bit of time, but Lea slowly began to smile after hearing that. "Really?"

"Yes!"

"So then, does that mean we're all dating now?" Lea questioned. He suddenly felt like he was in over his head now. Boy was the concept of dating puzzling!

"Well…" Axel was about to explain but Roxas shot him a glare.

'Like hell I'm going to let you corrupt his mind any further!' The blonde's conscious screamed. "Lea, sweetheart, let's just say that things are complicated right now okay?" He tried to smile.

"But eventually, we will!" Axel chimed. He completely threw Roxas off just by saying that and he smirked triumphantly as his assistant began to stutter.

"Really?!" Lea jumped.

"Really, really." Axel winked. Eying his assistant, he saw the way the blond practically shriveled up.

Lea did notice his father's reaction though and gave the older man a firm nod but he quickly replaced his cheerful grin with a warning glare. "Then you better be extra good to my daddy and me!" He pointed at him.

"Of course, I wouldn't dream of being anything less." Axel assured him and he ruffled Lea's hair again.

Lea giggled softly, all the while Roxas kept to his silence. The twenty-four year old was at a complete loss for words to describe the thoughts swimming around in his mind; however he was more than certain that things were going to change even more than before. He wasn't sure how long he had to prepare until it happened, but it made him nervous as the thought of waiting for the impending events to occur stood at the forefront of his consciousness.

  
o0o0o0o  


Axel and Roxas didn't push the topic of their ambiguous relationship after Lea gave them his approval. Although Axel in particular was happy to receive his son's permission, he was aware of Roxas' feelings on the subject and that it was a matter that had to be dealt with in private if they were to proceed any further.

With that conversation on the back burner until they could find the time to speak with each other alone, the two went about the rest of their time at work doing the usual workload until six and after that, it was a quick stop at the supermarket to pick up a few ingredients for dinner as well as stocking up the Strife household with some much needed necessities.

The moment they entered the apartment, Roxas was relieved to find that Cloud and Leon had indeed cleared out before they arrived. Trudging warily towards the kitchen after taking his shoes off, he placed a couple of grocery bags on the dining table. Axel locked the door behind them and Lea went straight to his bedroom to drop off his backpack before bolting out towards the living room and plopping himself down on the couch with the TV remote already in his clutches.

Axel trailed after his blond assistant who was already getting the kitchen set up for them to cook. A couple pots were pulled out and placed on the stove, a cutting board next to the sink, and a metal tray for them to bake their garlic bread all scattered about. Placing his own set of grocery bags down on the table next to Roxas' pile, Axel went up behind the blond who was busy sorting through the food in the fridge only to poke his side.

Roxas instantly yelped on contact and when he turned around to face the culprit, he glared fiercely at the offending redhead. "You!" He pointed. "Don't do that!"

"Hey, you left yourself wide open and it was an opportunity that I couldn't resist." Axel replied, his hands held up in defense despite the grin he wore.

"That doesn't give you permission to do that though." Roxas seethed, his finger jabbing against the other's chest. "Now will you move aside please?"

"Yes, dear." Axel rolled his eyes, giving the blond a bow before taking a step back to lean against the stove counter.

Roxas stared at the redhead for a moment, letting the other's words sink in. "Excuse me?"

"Oh." Axel blinked. "Well, I mean…"

"Axel called you dear!" Lea shouted from the living room. Despite the television being turned on, the four year old was still able to hear their conversation over one of his favorite programs, Timon and Pumbaa.

That of course didn't make Roxas feel any better and he gave the older redhead a slight frown.

"Look, I really didn't mean to. It just slipped out…" Axel tried to say but Roxas merely shook his head.

"Forget it, we'll talk about it later. Among other things…" Roxas said with a short sigh. "Let's just get dinner started okay? It's been a long day for all of us and I think relaxing is the best medicine right now." He added, making it clear that the topic was over whether the redhead liked it or not.

Axel watched how the blond gave him a brief smile afterwards. It looked forced and though he wanted to say something about it, pushing the younger male wasn't the most ideal thing to do so he let it slide. For now at least…

Behind the corner of the kitchen, Lea hid silently, his figure hunched low and pressed up against the wall so as not to be seen by Axel and Roxas. He didn't understand why his father was acting so melancholy all of a sudden. Was it because of what he said earlier he wondered? But that shouldn't be right, he thought frowning to himself. Didn't they like each other? They made it seem that way all week long after all! Lea instantly puffed out his cheeks in annoyance just thinking about it. He needed to investigate! And it was then that he resolved to stay in his hiding place whilst spying on the pair cooking in the kitchen.

"Lea?" Roxas looked over the counter top above the sink which gave him a clear view of the living room. The little redhead was strangely missing from the couch where he last saw him. Pouting a little, Roxas made his way around and stood at the edge of the kitchen. Tapping his foot against the carpet edge, he was about ready to search the entire apartment for his son until he suddenly found the four year old peering up at him from the ground with a cheeky smile.

The boy's spying days were over even before he got started.

Arching a brow at Lea, Roxas crossed his arms, releasing a curious 'hm'. "What exactly are you doing down there?"

"Umm…" Lea pursed his lips together.

"Lea?"

"I was looking for the remote?" He said slowly, making it a little too obvious for Roxas to conclude that he was lying.

"And why would the remote control be all the way over here when we usually just leave it on the couch where everyone can find it?" Roxas smiled knowingly. "Hm?"

Instantly Lea choked back, he'd been caught red handed.

Not wishing to make a fool out of himself even further, Lea made a beeline crawl towards the couch. Roxas watched on of course, chuckling softly to himself and once he saw to it that his son was settled down in front of the television again, he returned to the kitchen, feeling just a tiny bit lighter.

The preparation for spaghetti and meatballs started out rather awkward. Roxas did his very best to stay out of Axel's way as much as possible but because of how off putting it was, bumping shoulders and quite literally running into each other regardless since it was such a small space to cook in, the redhead grew restless. The tension didn't let up until Axel dropped a strand of spaghetti noodle in his hair while trying to taste test it and in retaliation for his mistake, Roxas traced his finger along the rim of an empty container of tomato sauce only to use the remnants to paint the other's face.

It was a small food fight but it was enough to bring a smile on both their faces as they returned to their tasks diligently.

With Roxas' back to him, Axel couldn't help the urge to embrace him from behind boiling within him. The opportunity was right there, he could do it, but how would the younger male perceive his actions? That was probably the one thing stopping Axel from doing what he wanted, among other things. With a heavy sigh, he did his very best to concentrate on washing the few kitchen utensils floating about in the sink. Maybe later, sometime soon he could hug him, but not right now. At least for the time being.

  
o0o0o0o  


"Spaghetti and meatballs!" Lea cried. Inhaling the familiar scent that perforated from the kitchen, he jumped off the couch and scrambled over to watch as Axel began straining the noodles and Roxas gave the tomato sauce on the stove one last stir in the pot.

"And garlic bread too mind you!" Axel chimed.

"Yum!"

"Lea, wash your hands okay?" Roxas said as he began collecting three bowls and three forks and spoons.

"Yes sir!" The four year old saluted before disappearing back out into the living room towards the bathroom in the hallway. It probably would have been faster to wash his hands in the kitchen sink but with all the dishes littered in there, he didn't want to go through the trouble of navigating around the stacks of kitchen utensils.

When Lea came back to the dining table, the food was laid out and both Roxas and Axel sat together with an empty chair between them. The four year old immediately took the seat and dinner became more or less a complete mess filled with tomato sauce stains and laughter once the three settled down and began to eat.

Whilst Roxas sat back and picked lightly at the contents in his bowl, he watched on with amusement as both Axel and Lea gorged down into their fill. The two were truly a sight to see and he chuckled quietly to himself when Lea looked up at him with tomato sauce smeared all over his mouth. Axel had a bit of the same sauce hanging around the edge of his mouth as well, looking just as messy, but tamed in comparison to his four year old son. The two beamed happily at the twinkling blond.

Shaking his head at them, Roxas took a napkin that sat next to his bowl, using it to wipe the self-made food mess clean off both of their faces. Axel and Lea groaned in retaliation, of course but the older redhead couldn't help but smile softly at his assistant's kind gesture. As Roxas swept the pad of his thumb gently across the corner of Axel's lip, his breath hitched and the two stopped, eyes staring at each other in silence.

Lea made an uncomfortable noise to gain their attention, and it was only then that the two adults broke eye contact. Afterwards, dinner went relatively well, with a number of shy glances stolen in between. When the three finally finished their meal, Roxas took up all the left overs and stored them away in plastic containers while Axel collected the dishes and placed them in the dish washer along with the rest of the pots and pans in the sink after giving them a good rinse.

Seeing that there was nothing of great interest happening in the kitchen, Lea scampered away and a minute or two afterwards Roxas followed after him, if only to give him a quick bath while Axel waited in the living room. In less than fifteen minutes, Lea was found giggling loudly, dressed in his pajamas with a movie in hand as he ran into the room and threw himself on top of Axel's lap. Roxas emerged only seconds after, dressed down in an oversized t-shirt and sweats. He was practically drowning in his sleepwear but Axel found it endearing, oddly enough and if he wanted to be even more specific, the blond looked downright cute.

"This one! I want to watch this movie!" Lea said excitedly as he held up the DVD in front of Axel's face.

With the cover pressed close to his face, Axel leaned back into the couch and squinted his eyes in order to read the title. "Lady and the Tramp?"

Lea nodded. "Yeah!"

"Alright, settle down." Roxas said. "If you want to watch it, you better hand it over so I can pop it into the DVD player."

"I am! I am!" Lea exclaimed excitedly as he jumped off of Axel's lap. Shoving the movie into Roxas' awaiting hands, he then turned and scrambled back onto the couch next to the older redhead.

It took just moments for Roxas to get the movie into the machine and once he pressed play, everything was smooth sailing from there. When he settled down on the couch beside Lea, he ruffled the boy's damp redhead before gazing briefly up at his boss. It was just a glance, short and sweet but Axel caught him in the act and Roxas stiffened considerably, afraid to be reprimanded. Axel, however just smiled at him and though Roxas would have smiled back, he was still feeling much too embarrassed to do so and threw his gaze back towards the TV screen.

Axel frowned slightly at him but then he had a thought, one that he hoped would set the both of them at ease. With that idea in mind, he kept to himself and went about his business just the same, returning his attention to the movie being played on the screen. Thirty minutes into the film as Lady and Tramp arrived at the Italian restaurant, Axel finally made his move, his right hand maneuvering around Lea's back in order to reach other and grasp Roxas' left hand tightly in his own.

The action made Roxas flinch but he reciprocated the action just as quickly and in no time their fingers were laced tightly together. He didn't want to let go, the feeling too good to release so easily. As the minutes ticked away, Lea fell against his side sleepily and it was only then that Roxas pried his hand free from Axel's if only to adjust their son into a comfortable position on his lap, making it easier for the four year old to sleep if need be.

With a gap sitting between them, Roxas looked up at the redhead shyly, his cheeks a bit flustered from them holding hands earlier. When he heard Lea yawn, he looked back down at his lap, wearing a smile and Axel was glad because he wasn't trying to hide it this time.

"Getting a little sleepy there I see." Axel teased Lea and the boy shook his head in response.

"No I'm not." He protested.

"Hush." Roxas said pointedly at Axel as he stroked Lea's hair delicately. He was doing it to sooth the four year old to sleep. It was getting late after all and he didn't want Lea to develop any bad sleeping habits at such a young age.

"Sorry." Axel replied with a soft chuckle.

Instead of watching the movie, Axel kept his eyes locked on the boy falling asleep on the blonde's lap. It truly was a beautiful sight and even though it was cheesy, it really did take his breath away. It seemed to come natural to Roxas, being a father to Lea that is and although it warmed Axel's heart, it was still difficult for him not to dwell on the negative feelings he had about missing out on being a dad during the four year olds infancy.

Sighing loudly to himself, Axel laid his head against Roxas' shoulder. He was careful not to disturb the light slumber that had successfully overtaken Lea and as he peered up at the contemplative look Roxas wore, he shook his head lightly.

"You okay?" Roxas asked in a soft voice.

"I'm alright, just thinking is all."

"That's a little dangerous isn't it?"

"Yeah, it can be."

Roxas eyed the redhead from the corner of his eye. The concern apparent in his voice but he held steady. "What were you thinking about, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Stuff, you know?" Axel shrugged. "The usual."

"And what would that be exactly?" Roxas pried gently.

Axel knew he wasn't going to drop the topic easily so he let him have it. "You, me, Lea. Mostly Lea—you know, that kind of stuff."

Roxas blinked and Axel grinned as the first signs of crimson began to burn through his cheeks. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh indeed." Axel chimed.

He looked back down at Lea who was now fast asleep despite his earlier protests. Biting his lip gently, he inhaled deeply. "Do you think about that stuff often?" He asked, his voice slightly nervous.

"Of course, why wouldn't I? It's kind of hard not to think about it don't you think? I mean the three of us are intertwined as crazy as it sounds, and it's in one of the most complicated yet miraculous ways possible."

"Alright, you have a point there." Roxas said, his body moving to lean back against the taller redhead.

"Exactly." Axel replied slowly as he leaned back to accommodate his assistant. He was sure Roxas felt comfortable, lying down snuggly against his side but the position wasn't exactly relaxing to Axel in the same sense. So to make up for it, he circled his right arm around the other's shoulder, embracing him closely to his side with Lea's hair tickling along his stomach.

Holding Roxas close against him with the movie still playing in the background, the pair tried to continue on watching the rest of what was left of the film despite Lea having already fallen asleep. It was a major task trying to keep their eyes open, but Roxas in particular was mere moments away from heading down towards the path of no return as well. When the movie was finally coming to a close with Lady and Tramp introducing their new family of pups to the neighborhood dogs, Axel found Roxas' eyes drooping to a close at long last.

"Hey, the movie is just about over." He yawned. "Better get up and turn it off."

Roxas nuzzled his cheek against him rather affectionately, murmuring incoherently in response. "Min… five more minutes…" He mumbled, shifting here and there as Lea squirmed gently in his arms. "Just five minutes…"

"Roxas…" Axel whined but he didn't have the heart to move the tired blond and his son. He then heaved a short sigh to himself in defeat, smiling softly at the display in front of him. It really was downright adorable and he couldn't help but close his eyes, all the while still grinning from ear to ear. "Do you think, maybe someday it can be like this every day?" He asked softly, hoping for an answer but none came aside from a gentle hum.

His assistant had fallen asleep.

Sitting there in silence, Axel's mind began to drift. He considered his question again in his hazy mindset, wondering if he should maybe ask Roxas again when he's awake. It was a good plan, he thought but unfortunately it became difficult for him to hold onto the notion and within moments, he too was falling asleep, just the same as Roxas and Lea beside him.

  
o0o0o0o  


When Cloud and Leon arrived at the apartment after their date, they didn't expect to find Axel, Roxas and Lea asleep on the living room couch. They were surprised, there was no mistake there, but after a while of staring at the three, Cloud shrugged and before Leon could question why he seemed so indifferent of their current predicament, he was already pulling out his phone and pressing the camera function on the touchscreen.

"Cloud this isn't the time to be taking pictures, we have to put these guys to bed somehow." Leon said with annoyance.

"Hold your horses would you? It's not every day that we catch Roxas off guard like this, let alone completely vulnerable." Cloud replied, snapping a few pictures.

"I understand what you mean, but I'm pretty sure you weren't expecting to come home to find this regardless." Leon pointed at the three on the couch.

"You're over exaggerating. Loosen up would you? You're always so serious."

"And you're not."

Cloud gave him his usual deadpanned look. "Just take Lea to our bedroom and we'll leave the love birds where they are Mr. Grumpy Gills. The two could use a shock every once in a while and open their eyes to what is in front of them. And besides, I highly doubt you'll want to carry them both to Roxas' room anyways."

Leon grumbled. He hated when Cloud actually made a point and regardless he nodded his head in agreement and went ahead to untangle the four old from Roxas' arms.

"I can't help but think that despite your dislike of Axel, you're still trying to set the two up one way or another." Leon said, watching as Cloud pushed the two left sleeping on the couch closer together.

"You're right." Cloud said, gazing his little brother intently. "I still distrust Axel to some extent but since he's been trying his hardest to be involved in Lea's life, as well as Roxas' I'm beginning to see how much it means to Roxas. He's happy, you've noticed haven't you?"

Lea whimpered as Leon handled him gently in his arms. Adjusting him comfortably enough, he looked up at Cloud and sighed. "Yes, I've seen it too. I'm not that blind."

"Sure you're not."

"Can it blondie, it's time for us to go to bed."

"Yeah, yeah I got you." Cloud rolled his eyes.

Clicking his tongue at him, Leon gave him a short sneer before turning his back with the intention of leaving the room. Cloud on the other hand, eyed the sleeping pair on the couch just a moment longer and seeing this, Leon stopped to give the blond one last glance.

"Don't take too long." He said and that was the end of it as he finally began making his way towards the hall down to the master bedroom with Lea.

Cloud watched Leon go and once he was gone and out of earshot, he went ahead to retrieve a blanket from the hallway closet. Coming back to the living room, he navigated quietly back to his brother and Axel, both still snoozing like the world around them didn't matter and slowly he carefully draped a blanket on top of them. It was the least he could do other than force Leon to take Lea off their hands.

Satisfied with his good deed, Cloud stretched his arms out over his head and finally went away with a short yawn, leaving the two men to slumber the hours away long into the night until morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: There's my fluffy chapter for you guys. I hope you enjoyed it, though please consider this as the calm before the storm. Dun, dun, dun! Until next time everyone! Take care and thank you so much for tolerating the months of waiting and being awesome readers (:


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